Gaining and Losing
by SoWhatever
Summary: My 1st Story! It's been a year after the Ceremonial Duel and Yugi, Ryou, and Malik are all trying to deal with never seeing their yamis again. But as a new evil rises, the gods deem it necessary for the yamis to return to the world of the living, and as the tension rises between good and evil, so do the emotions each of the six are feeling. YY RB MM rated M for later chapters
1. Dealing With Losses

**SW: Okay…so…I changed it around a little bit, but only a little I swear!**

**Bakura: Yeah right**

**SW: SHUT UP!...well, this takes place after the ceremonial duel, but I've put it so that Malik's (I've made him the hikari) dad is still alive and Odion doesn't stay with them anymore. Oh, and Marik (the yami) has a past life in Egypt, he will be a tomb raider and his name will be Mariku. And, Isis will be the name of Malik's sister in the future and in the past, cause, no offence, but I don't like the name Ishizu. See? That really isn't that much….Maybe….If there is anything else that comes up during the story that is different than in the anime (which is what I watched, I can't seem to find the manga anywhere -.-") ****I'll let you know**

**Yami: SoWhatever does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, they belong to whoever they belong to**

**Happy****reading!**

Narrator's POV

A group of three very close friends ran around, playing in the park.

One had black star-shaped hair, its tips dipped in violet, with blond bangs framing his face, a single forelock dangling in the center of his forehead. This boy was seventeen, though short for his age, and had the appearance of a pre-teen. He had amethyst eyes that sparkled with innocence, purity, and joy. His name was Yugi.

The next was a quiet boy, a pale young man the same age as Yugi. If one had judged by looks, the paleness of his skin and the thinness of all of his limbs would have led you to believe he was sickly. However, as he can always be seen playing and laughing with his friends, and the way his silky white hair shined, hid the fact that his health was failing. His eyes were the color of chocolate, but seemed to hold an inner sadness, a loneliness that everyone strived to cure. They called him Ryou.

The last was known as Malik. He was seventeen as well, and had crazed platinum blonde hair that flowed to just past his shoulders, and his tanned shoulders shook as he ran and laughed with his friends. He was of average size, slightly muscled, and he stood taller than Ryou but not by much. He had shining lilac eyes, which threatened a powerful and vengeful rage if anyone was to hurt him, his family, or especially his friends.

Yugi's POV

I laugh and run away from Malik, who is shouting at me to get back so he can teach me what he really can do.

Ryou just stands and shakes his head, as Malik tries to catch me, to no avail. I lean against a tree as Malik finally catches up to me and bends over to catch his breath, his hair falling over his shoulders.

"What the hell, Yugi? Who knew someone so short could run so fast?"

I giggle and mock-glare at him "Wasn't insulting my height what got you out of breath in the first place?"

He grumbles something along the lines of 'I don't know what you're talking about' and stands up fully as Ryou comes and joins us underneath the tree.

I sit down, bracing my back against it and motion for the others to sit with me. Malik is on my right and Ryou on my left so each of us has a different side and is staring off in a different direction.

I sniffed, an overwhelming feeling of loneliness washing over me.

Narrator's POV

The group of friends had grown very close in the year after the Ceremonial Duel, Malik coming over from Egypt with his sister and father to stay in Japan since their job in Egypt was over. And they had grown especially close after Tea had found out they were all gay, she had left them without a backwards glance. Last they heard, she was in America taking dance lessons. Joey had been spending most of his time with his new boyfriend, Seto Kaiba, so he didn't hang out with them as much anymore. They shared everything with each other, including crushes. Yes, it was true, all of them had fallen for another man, however, those man weren't alive in this time.

Ryou's POV

I sigh and slump against the tree, the ache in my chest that had been present since the moment Bakura-I mean Akefia-left, growing in size and pain. Yugi's shoulders start to shake in an obvious attempt to keep tears in, his hair bobbing with his head. I glance at Malik in shock, seeing a similar expression on his face. We were both surprised that Yugi would have started crying. Yugi was supposed to be the leader, the one who stopped us, well, Joey and Malik, from doing something stupid, who always had a stiff upper lip, when faced with mental problems, that is. I know it seems a little unfair to think of Yugi like that, but that was the assumed roles in our little posse. I was the smart, cool-headed thinker, Malik and Joey were the muscles, and Yugi was the strong-headed, stubborn leader.

Malik and I rush around to Yugi, wrapping our arms around either side of him as sobs wrenched from his throat, coming out in one huge torrent.

"I-I miss…I miss Ya-Atemu…." Yugi whispers once the sobbing had ebbed a little.

"We know" I say softly, rubbing small circles into one of my best friends' back, holding back tears of my own, causing me hiccup. "I-If it ma-kes a difference…I miss Ba-kur….Akefia to-o." I curse myself for messing up his name again and brush back a strand of hair behind my ear as tears start to slip out.

But Malik notices our slip-ups and I can see him grow angry. Furiously wiping at the tears that I saw on his cheeks, Malik swears and punches at the bark of the tree. "Damn it! Why the hell would they leave you! It's obvious how much they mean to you, you think they would have seen it!"

I notice how he doesn't say 'us', and realize that he must still be blaming himself over the Battle City tournament. I look over at him sadly as Yugi sniffs and wipes away his tears. I frown at Malik's fist, which had started to drip blood. I stand up, brushing myself off and rubbing my eyes from the dried tears. "Come on, Malik, we need to clean your hand."

Malik glances down and frowns as if just noticing the wound "It's fine. I've dealt with worse."

"So?!" I grab at Malik's hand to look at it "It could need stitches…or get infected…"

"Alright _Dr. _Ryou," Malik says rolling his eyes "Yugi? Your house?"

Yugi nods and stands to walk in between two of his best friends "I'm sure Grandpa won't mind at all."

It didn't take long to get to the game shop, it being only a block from the park we hang out at. After a quick hello to his grandpa, Yugi leads us up the back staircase to get to the apartment above the shop. We settled in Yugi's room, our backs to the side of the bed, shoulder to shoulder, and Yugi disappears to the bathroom, returning with a first aid kit that I take from him. I clean the scratch with disinfectant, earning a hiss from Malik.

"Easy on that why don't you?" he winces as I put a band-aid on it.

I smile sweetly and lean down to place a kiss on the covered wound "There, all better," knowing that the others know it is just a friendly gesture.

A banging of the door at the top of the staircase that led to the store marks the entrance of the fourth member of our group. Joey jogs into the room and flops down onto the next to Yugi on the bed, which causes him to bounce onto Malik and me.

Yugi sits up with a pout and crosses his arms at Joey, ignoring the fact that he was still sitting on us! Malik and I choke out as we squirm, "Breathe, Yugi! Can't breathe!"

Yugi shakes his head at Joey before climbing back onto the bed "Sorry guys, wasn't my fault."

"I know, Yugi…So how is Seto, Joey?" I ask nonchalantly, trying to hide my small smirk, oh how revenge is sweet.

"F-Fine, thank you" Joey immediately erupts in a bright red blush, much to my amusement…sometimes I think hanging with Bakur-Damn it! Akefia! His name is Akefia!-affected me more than I thought…I really wish he were here…

The others laugh at his predicament, ignoring the annoyed yelling coming from Joey and not noticing my more somber train of thought. "I'm sorry Joey, but we all find it hilarious that you fell in love with someone who you fight with all the time" Yugi says, wiping at the tears that had come from laughing so hard.

Joey just smiles and nods his head, "Yeah, I know. It's weird, I wouldn't be able to explain it myself."

We spend more time just catching up and playing games that Yugi supplied before we all climbed onto Yugi's bed, crowding together to fit, since none of us really wanted to go home, and fell asleep.

* * *

Narrator's POV

Three men sat around a column, in a similar position to what the hikaris were in around the tree in the park.

The one with pitch-black star-shaped hair, tipped in crimson and framed in blonds bangs and streaks, leaned his head back against the pillar "Do you think they ever think about us?" he asked as his crimson eyes looking up at the ceiling.

The one with red-tinted lilac eyes and crazed platinum blonde hair scoffed, "Your two might, mine thinks I'm dead and gone, probably happily too" he smirked, but it came out more like a grimace.

"I doubt Ryou misses me, after what I had put him through with the whole 'kill your friends and take over the world' thing" said the one with dark brown eyes that seemed to have a speck of red on them and white spiked hair. "So that leaves Yugi…I bet he does think about you, Yami" he spit out. Both had long since repented for their sins against the gods, the anger that they had felt before just a stream of bitterness at what they could have done if they weren't so vengeful. And the gods had let them into the afterlife on a short leash, one slip-up and it would be back to the shadow realm for them. Mind you, they still had the evil minds of a thief and tomb raider, they just couldn't express it as much anymore.

And to top it all off, all three of them had the same problem, they were in love, though blonde and albino hated to admit it. Oh no, it wasn't the being in love part that was the bad thing, it was who they had realized they loved that was the problem. You see they each had fallen for someone that was alive thousands of years in the future, their hikaris.

"Atemu!" the one with crimson eyes looked up as his other name was called. The one known as Set walked up in front of him and frowned at his company, his icy blue eyes glaring "What are you doing here with _them_? You are needed in the throne room"

Yami stood up and brushed of his white kilt, smoothing out the strip of blue that came down the middle "I was merely talking." He nodded at the two still sitting, and knowing they hated being called by their past names, "Bakura. Marik."

"See ya, Yami" the lilac eyed one smirked at seeing Seth squirm at the future names.

As soon as Yami had left, a silence fell over the remaining two. "We need to figure out a way to go back, Marik" the one with brown eyes finally stated.

"Or in this case forward, Bakura" Marik cackled, a crazed look in his eyes appearing.

Bakura merely rolled his eyes "Whatever"

* * *

In the throne room, Yami was approached by Isis, who bowed before him in his throne.

"Rise" he commanded, before his voice softened "What brings you before me Isis?"

"I have recently had a vision, it involves you, Akefia, and Mariku." Isis' strict tone cut straight to the point, a trait Yami admired in Isis, "I believe that it will be necessary for you all to return to the living"

* * *

**SW: OK, so I think I'll leave off there, because, well, I finished this around midnight and I'm really anxious to turn this in to my first story**

**Marik: *scoff* you just don't want to get distracted and lose your idea**

**SW: so what if I don't, that's not a bad thing. Please tell me if you enjoyed it, what you hated, anything! I just want to know!**

**Yugi: Please? *puppy dog eyes***


	2. Possibility of Gain

**SW: I'm back!**

**Yugi: Hooray! I get to see Yami again!**

**SW: I don't know if that'll happen in this chapter sweetie…**

**Yugi: *sniff* Aw…**

**SW: But if it doesn't it will most definitely happen next chapter!**

**Yugi: Yay! SoWhatever does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!. We belong to whoever rightfully owns us.**

**SW: P.S. I attempted to show Marik's and Bakura's POV in this…no promises on how THAT turned out (I don't think I did them justice) also I couldn't find the name of Malik's father anywhere so I decided with Aswad which means dark and I couldn't find Ryou's mother's either so I went with Ai which means love.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Yami's POV

I blinked once, composing myself so that I wouldn't leap for joy at the prospect of being able to see my beautiful aibou again. "…What?" I asked after a moment's pause, hoping that I heard right.

"You, the thief, and the tomb raider must all go back to the present and deal with the evil that is lurking there. Come, my pharaoh, let me show you." She bowed and turned, leading the way to a side room.

I dismissed my guards and the priests, allowing only myself to follow Isis, though I noticed that Bakura and Marik had followed into the throne room and had hidden in the shadows of the room we were in.

"You boys might as well come out of hiding, I know you are there, and you need to see this as well" I smirked as Isis glanced over at the two, shocking both of them when they heard that they were noticed.

Marik let out a laugh, one that sounded crazed I might add, and tugged a reluctant Bakura out of the shadows, "You impress me more everyday Isis"

Isis nodded in acknowledgement at the two before turning to the center of the room, where a large, shallow well was located. She put one hand on her necklace and the other on the water. "First I will show you your hikaris" that one sentence causing Marik and I to scramble to the edge of the pool, Bakura following slowly after.

_…Yugi walked to school alone, sighing as he shifted the backpack on his shoulder._

I looked in shock at the water, a shimmering image of Yugi had appeared. He had grown a little, but the innocent look that seemed to surround my lovely hikari had yet to fade. My heart beat a little faster at seeing Yugi after so long.

_Yugi passed an alley, about to turn the corner that would lead to school, when a hand reached out and grabbed him, yanking the boy into the dark alley._

Anger began to rage through me, the vision allowing me to hear the sounds of punches and screams of pain, but failing to show what was happening and who was tormenting my hikari.

_Yugi was thrown back onto the sidewalk and out of the alley, on his hands and knees, tears of pain flowing out of his eyes. "See you tomorrow, squirt" a gruff voice came from a tall figure, before the brute of a man turned the corner to school. Yugi let out another quiet sob before taking a deep breath, composing himself and looking around as he stood up, glad that no one had seen that episode._

_He brushed of his tattered school clothes, exchanging his bloodied and torn jacket for a clean one that he always kept in his bag, just for these occasions._

_He winced at the movement, ignoring it for the sake of not letting his friends know what was happening to him, he wouldn't want to be a bother…_

My anger only grew at seeing this. His Yugi was in pain! And he didn't reach out for help! A sense of uselessness rushed through me, I could not help my hikari, I was stuck in the afterlife, and it had gotten so bad that he had learned to keep a spare jacket in his bag to change into!

Marik's POV

I watched as Yami tried to hide his anger, of course he would fail miserably. I think he was hurting the edge of the pool though, the way he was gripping it. I feel bad for the poor pool.

The water shimmered and a new image showed up.

I tensed at recognizing Malik. Ra…seeing him after all this time sure opens old wounds. He looked as gorgeous as ever, and I leaned forward to get a closer look

_…Malik slowly opened the door to his apartment, sighing in relief when he saw no one there. He walked into the kitchen and hummed a pop song, swaying his hips as he prepared a meal from the little food they had there._

They do this just to taunt me, I'm sure. Seeing him, swaying those wide hips, drove me to insanity. Well, insanity I haven't experienced in a while at least.

_The door to the apartment slammed, causing Malik to drop the knife he was using to chop vegetables. It clattered to the floor as Malik backed up against the table in the kitchen, his shoulders starting to shake._

_Malik's father walked into the kitchen, his body swaying in a way that showed he was drunk._

_He leaned against the countertop and looked over at Malik, causing him to shake even more, "Hey, slut," he walked and towered over his son "I got fired from my job again, motherfucker, do you have any cash?"_

_"N-no"_

The uncharacteristic quiver in Malik's voice made me see red. How dare this man insult and threaten my hikari! I slammed my fist into the stone edge of the pool, never taking my eyes off the scene, but noticing the wary glances that the others had given me.

_"Well…isn't that too bad…" Aswad Ishtar gently reaches over to trace the jawline of his son, causing Malik to flinch "I know Isis isn't home…do we have any beer?"_

_"I-I don't…don't kno-know"_

_Aswad raises his hand and brings it down hard on Malik's cheek._

I clench my fists and I literally lose my vision for a few seconds as the rage claims my mind. I feel the shadows caress my body in a way I haven't felt before. When I was there, Malik's father had left him alone. It was my fault that he was being hurt. It was…

"Marik!" I hear Yami yell, bringing me back down to earth, "Snap out of it!"

I take a deep breath and expel the shadows to the edge of the room, where they wait in anticipation of me losing it again.

"Maybe…maybe I shouldn't be showing this to all you" Isis lets out. She had stopped the video, if you could call it that, at a point that almost sent me into a rage again.

Malik was curled in a ball before his father, his arms wrapped around his bent legs and his head tucked in between them. His father had a look of pure rage on his face, and his leg was bent back to kick his son.

"No…keep going…I want to see this" the chopped sound of my voice showed that I wouldn't take no for an answer.

Glancing at the shadows dancing in the corner, Isis nodded and reached her hand to the water again, causing the picture to play on.

"_You ungrateful little bastard!" with each word, the kicks that Malik's father sent became even more erratic. "You're the reason my wife died! Why don't you go live with your other faggot friends, you little slut?"_

_If it was at all possible, Malik seemed to curl even more in on himself as he rode out the abuse. Malik looked up at the pause in the kicks, only to crawl backwards in fright at seeing his father reach for the knife that he had dropped earlier._

_His back hit the wall and he wrapped his arms around his knees as his father came closer. An evil smile had spread across his face as he stepped closer to Malik "You know I could end it right here, my son," he traced the knife up and down Malik's arms, drawing out blood and a whimper, "But I think I'll save that for later, after I've taken you" he whispers this next Malik's ear. With that he stands up, throws the knife in front of Malik and walks out the door, slamming it behind him._

I had thought the vision would be over, but what I saw next threw me off even more.

_Malik stares at the knife, glancing at the door every once in a while to make sure his father was gone. He reaches for the knife and stares at the dried blood on the blade, his blood. He presses it to his throat, leaning his head back and closing his eyes as if he was going to make the final cut._

_His hand shakes before he chucks the knife across the room, it hitting the wall across from before clattering to the floor. Malik collapses in sobs and wraps his bloodied arms around himself, wincing at the pain every movement made. Fresh blood poured out of the cuts in his arms, but he ignored it for the purpose of feeling safe as sobs wracked his body…_

'Malik-pretty wanted to kill himself' that thought alone was enough to make me numb. My strong, beautiful, lively hikari-pretty wanted to kill himself. To end his life so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. I forget what happened next, but Yami informed me that the shadows had come back with a vengeance, swallowing me and most of the room whole. The only thing I remember is thinking of what I could have done, what I could have prevented if I had only realized that it wasn't the pharaoh's fault that I had been created, but Malik's father's.

Bakura's POV

After seeing Marik get engulfed in the shadows, I was almost scared to see what was wrong with Ryou. I said ALMOST. After we got Marik back to our realm, he collapsed, he didn't start crying or anything, but he just sat there, staring at the water. That alone freaked me out, I mean, I know Marik is crazy, but I didn't think his mind was that wacked up enough to just shut down. I figured I'd probably have a similar reaction, not that I cared for Ryou or anything, but in shock at the situation. I prepared myself for the worst as I looked away from Marik to the water.

_…Ryou sighed as he walked home from school, his head bent so as not to draw attention. He passed by his house, ignoring the tempting call of safety and comfort for something he thought was much more important._

_Walking around the block by his house, he walks into a cemetery, waving hello to a groundskeeper, who waved back. He stepped around other graves, walking to the back where two well-kept graves hid underneath a willow tree. Written on one was the name Ai Bakura, and the other, Amane Bakura. Ryou sat down on the ground next to the two and began to talk, "Hello mom, Amane. How are you today? I'm good, I guess. The pain isn't too bad today, and Yugi has invited me over for dinner, so I won't be eating alone…"_

_Ryou's faded at the end, being replaced by a fit of coughing that shook his entire body. "Oh, I'm alright really, it's just a cold I'm sure" he returns to the conversation in his head, though his voice is strained to remain normal "Yugi has noticed that I haven't been eating as much, which I figure is why he invited me over. I love that they care about me and all, but they should know that there isn't anything wrong with-" his talking was cut short by another round of coughing, sounding painful to the listener._

_When he looked up from the crook of his arm, his face was flushed and his breathing was coming heavy. "I think I'm gonna have to cut this visit short, sorry mom and sis, but I'm really not feeling all that well." He stood, his body waving a little as he tried to keep his balance and his eyes rapidly closing and opening to get rid of the black spots. "I think I'll have to cancel on Yugi too, maybe I'll just go home, goodbye, see you tomorrow"_

_He stumbled back to his house, opening the door and sighed at the emptiness he felt inside. "Sometimes…" Ryou erupted in coughing "…sometimes I think, that loneliness is worse than death, Bakura…" another fit proceeded, "…I miss you…"_

_Ryou's head ducked as he turned to his room, but the viewers could still see the crystalline tears that fell to the floor…_

As the water picture faded, I sat on the ground, slowly, and stared at the water, not realizing that I probably looked exactly like Marik 'He misses me…' I felt a smile, not a smirk, a genuine smile break out onto my face before it faded into a frown '…but he's sick, and he isn't taking care of himself, how stupid can you get, Rabbit?'

Isis cleared her throat and I looked up to her, noticing that all three of us were in similar positions and lost in our thoughts. "As you can see, each of your hikaris is going through a different trial in life, and you must help them. However, there is danger in your returning, look" she touched the water again and all three of us looked into it.

_…A fort, hidden by a forest, loomed over Domino on a hill, the shadows that danced around it sinister and sickly looking. A maniacal laugh echoed out as the shadows spread out over the city, enveloping it entirely…_

The vision was the shortest of the four, most likely because Isis didn't know much about the enemy we were facing. I scoffed "Whatever, I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle."

Marik looked up, a weird look in his eyes "When can I see Malik-pretty again?" I stared at him shocked, not having heard that nickname in a while.

"As soon as you're ready, however, you must know that there are rules, and they cannot be broken-" Isis started to warn.

"Now!" Yami interrupted, jumping from his seat in the edge of the pool, "I believe we would all like to go now"

I nod along with Marik "Very well, I will have the gods explain the rules to you." Isis' Millennium Necklace began to glow, before that glow was transferred to us. "Good luck, young heroes" her voice and the room around us faded into a bright light and I closed my eyes against it, only opening them when I heard a deep-throated barking laugh erupt in front of us.

I look around, noticing the gold everywhere. I see Yami get down on one knee and look to see who pharaoh would bow before. I gulp and follow Yami's example, tugging Marik along with me, who was still admiring the shining temple. Three gods, Ra, who sat on a raised throne, and had the head of a falcon with a sun above it, Horus, who sat in the second of three thrones, his equal in height with the third, and had the head of a falcon with the pharaoh's double crown, and Osiris, on the third throne, who was a man with blue colored skin, holding a crook and flail in the ceremonial position, stared down at us. There was another, standing in front of us, the one that had laughed, who had the head of a jackal.

"Anubis, please don't laugh at our guests" said Ra in a condescending tone.

If it was even possible with that dog head, the jackal-headed god smirked "I just find it amusing that a tomb robber and thief would be allowed in your presence, Lord Ra"

Ra just sighs and smiles kindly at us. "We have heard your pleas, yamis, and are willing to grant your wish, on a few conditions"

"First, you must allow no harm to come your hikaris, something we think you'll have no problem doing" Horus smirks, his haughty tone obvious in the single sentence.

"Next, you must defeat the rising evil that is becoming a threat, another thing we think you'll have no problem with" Osiris continues, his gravely tone portraying an old man who had gone through many trials.

"Lastly," Anubis adds in, looming over the three of us, "you _must_ return to the afterlife once the second condition has been met" smirking as I glared at him.

After a moment's pause to see if we would deny anything, Ra continued "Very well, good luck, you will have your own bodies when you are there, do not let us down."

My vision flashed again and when they cleared I was in a forest, the smell of rain fresh in my nose.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell them about-" Horus starts only to be cut off by Ra, "I did not want them to know, it would only distract them from their purpose"

* * *

**SW: I think I have a problem with '…'s**

**Ryou: *sweetly* Maybe a little**

**Bakura: Stop being nice yadonushi, of course she has a problem!**

**SW: *sticks tongue out at Bakura* please review! Oh and that little bit at the end won't be explained to til the very end of the story so don't forget it!**


	3. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

**SW: My third chapter!**

**Yugi: Can I see Yami now?**

**SW: Yep! I'm planning for the hikaris to see the yamis in this chapter!**

**Yami: *hugs Yugi* Get on with it already! I want to see my aibou!**

**SW: Whatever, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, if I did, let me tell you, the ending would have been different! Oh yeah, and the villains are my own OCs, I apologize in advance if they resemble anyone you know or have read about.**

**Hope you like!**

/Yami to Yugi/

\Yugi to Yami\

**/Marik to Malik/**

**\Malik to Marik\**

{Bakura to Ryou}

}Ryou to Bakura{

* * *

Yugi's POV

I walk over to where we have lunch, underneath a cherry blossom tree in the courtyard. I notice how Malik is sitting a little stiffly as if in pain and Ryou is leaning with his head against the trunk of the tree, his eyes closed. The only one acting normally is Joey, who is trying to steal some of Malik's lunch without him noticing.

I sit down, completing the square, Malik across from me, Joey in between us with his back to the crowd of other students who eat outside and across from Ryou, who has his back to the tree.

"You okay, Ryou?" I ask worriedly, glancing over at him.

Ryou peels his eyes open and looks at me taking a moment to answer, worrying me even more, "…yeah, I'm fine"

"You really don't look fine, Ryou," Joey inputs "Maybe you should go home for the day, it is Friday, you probably won't miss much…." He looks up and notices a familiar figure sitting at the edge of the forest by the school. "Oh, there's Seto! I'll see you later guys!" He trotted over to where his boyfriend was sitting, laptop resting on his knees.

Before Ryou could say something, I feel a tug in chest, a familiar pull that I haven't felt for a year. I gasp and grasp at my chest, looking up to see Ryou and Malik in a similar position. We meet each other's eyes and I feel hope begin to build in my chest as the mind link that had been halved for a year swell and grow in my mind, the feeling of strength, comfort, and assurance drifting through it.

I jump at Ryou and hug him, laughing and not caring that people were starting to stare "They're back, Malik! Ryou! We can feel them! My link is open!" I can't stop smiling and I can tell that some of my happiness had swept through the link as Yami's happiness meets with mine.

/Yugi?/

Just as I was about to answer, the mind link clamps down, and I am alone again, I couldn't feel Yami anymore…I blink not truly understanding what was happening.

Ryou's POV

As soon as I felt the mind link open I let out a laugh, my face cracking from the grin, and hugging Yugi back as he jumps at me. Oh, please don't let this be a trick. }Ba-Akefia?...Is that you?{

{Ryou} I sighed as his voice drifted into my mind. I had really missed the sound of it.

}Oh god…Where are you? Are you really back? Do you have your own body now? Or are you still attached to me by spirit? I don't have the Millennium Ring anymore Bakura…{

I can hear him snort through the link {Slow down, I-}

My soul split in half again as the link was cut off. I wanted to scream in frustration, why? Just when I had thought I wouldn't be alone anymore…the world just had to rip away my one taste of happiness. I look down at Yugi and see him tearing up, most likely feeling the same thing I am. I wrap my arms around him, letting him bury his head in my chest as I bent my head into his hair, both of us shaking to not cry.

Malik's POV

**/Malik-pretty/ **I gasp at the sound of a very familiar voice in my head. I look around and don't see the apparition of my yami anywhere.

**\Marik-Mariku? Is that…is that really you?\**

**/Of course it is hikari-pretty…where are you?/ **I smile at the nicknames, not bothering to correct them because I was just so happy that he was _here._

**\We're a-\ **My thought is cut off by a force clamping down on the mind link. I gasp at the feeling of being half of a soul again. I had grown used to it in the two years after Battle City, but it looks like I'd have to go through that all over again, my body already yearning again for the feel of Mariku in my mind.

"May we sit here?" I look up to stare at two boys who had just walked up, and noticing how tightly Ryou and Yugi were holding onto each other, I figure they wouldn't want to meet anyone new.

I open my mouth to deny them but they don't wait for an answer and sit anyways, ignoring the glare I'm sending their way. One had long, waist-length black hair, and bright, piercing green eyes. He was around Joey's height and had pale skin like Ryou's. He was focusing all his attention on Ryou and Yugi, ignoring me to try and get them to look up, I smirked when I saw him fail miserably. I think I heard him call himself Eboni.

I look at the other one as he turns his blank, gray eyes to me. I feel chills go up my spine, but I can't look away. His eyes seem to grow and I see darkness on the edges of my vision. I was about to let go into unconscious when **/****MALIK-PRETTY!/ **erupts through my mind. I can't reply to him, but I see the other kid frown in frustration. I take in his appearance, doing everything to not look in his eyes again. He is shorter than the other and had cropped, choppy green hair, that only made his skin look green as well. I take a deep breath and unwillingly speak, my mouth working on its own, "Hello, I'm Malik, what's your name?"

A small smile spreads on his face, it kind of looked creepy if you ask me, and held out his hand to shake, "My name is Sheut" I hear the bell signaling the start off class, but none of us make a move to leave.

* * *

Marik's POV

After watching both Yami and Bakura collapse as their links were cut off, I decide it is up to me to keep it together. Funny. I don't think they even noticed when I walked off to find out where we were. Yami had taken a permanent residence underneath a tree, staring at the ground in front of him and Bakura was stomping through the forest, with no real direction to where he was headed. I notice that our Egyptian tunics had been replaced with the clothes we were last in, a purple muscle shirt with two gold chains attached to it and tan cargo pants for me, the black jacket and blue and white striped shirt overlapping jeans for Bakura, and blue leather pants with a black leather shirt and a blue coat worn like a cape for Yami. I think I'm getting better at noticing stuff, Malik-pretty would be proud.

As I walk, I find a clearing that has a few benches and pathways, leading me to believe this was a park. See, Bakura? I can be smart sometimes, I just don't like to is all. "Now all that is left to do is find out where my Malik-pretty is."

"You know, mister, talking to yourself might make people think you're crazy" A small voice from my left side came out.

I glance over and see a kid coming over to pick up a ball near me. Eh, why the hell not? I smirk and show my sharpened canines to him "Maybe I am crazy, _kid_."

He screams and runs off in the opposite direction. I laugh as he does, I've really missed that.

I frown as the mind link opens enough for me to feel something that scared me even more than I did to that little kid. I felt Malik-pretty's mind drifting apart in the shadows, his soul literally falling apart. **/****MALIK-PRETTY!/ **I yell through my mind, hoping that I could reach through the blocked link to him. As the small link fades again I feel his soul coming back together, though the fringes were frayed and he was being threatened to fall apart again.

NO! No one is going to hurt my Malik-pretty! Not now that I have a chance of getting him back! I hear Yami and Bakura walk up behind me, I grunt to acknowledge them but don't turn around.

"I recognize this place, it's a park that's near Yugi's house." Yami states, taking the lead and not looking back to see if we will follow him, knowing he is the only one who knows where he is going.

"They would still be in school at this time," Bakura adds, remembering it from his time when he took over Ryou. I stay silent, most of my knowledge having to do with Egypt, not Japan.

"I think we shouldn't meet them at school, it might be better for them if they were in somewhere they felt comfortable"

Bakura just snorts and starts to follow Yami "Whatever, Pharaoh" I follow the other hoping beyond hope that that is where Malik will be, for if he isn't, and he is in danger, there will be hell to pay.

* * *

Ryou's POV

I look up from Yugi to see Malik frowning at a new kid's hand, his own hand twitching as if he was fighting off the urge to shake it. I cough, drawing away the boy's attention from Malik, watching as he shook himself and glared at the new boy.

"Malik? Who's this?" I ask politely, noticing another boy staring at me and Yugi.

"This is Sheut" Malik spits out, it was obvious that Malik didn't like Sheut, but why was he so nervous? I wrap my arms more firmly around Yugi as he looks at Sheut and freezes. I look down at Yugi and frown, wondering what caught his attention. He just stares ahead, at Sheut, his eyes half-lidded. My eyes are drawn away from Yugi and I look over to the other boy, taking in his appearance, my eyes meeting his green ones at the end.

A gasp gets trapped in my throat, and I unconsciously loosen my grip on Yugi, seeing him gain a dazed look out of the corner of my eye. I can't look down and check…I-I don't want to, I don't want to check on him. I just-just want to…to sleep. I feel detached from my body, like I'm looking at it from the outside as my eyelids droop and close, watching from the outside as Malik rushes to me and Yugi when my body falls to the ground. Strange, I don't remember hitting the ground...I don't hurt anywhere that's for sure. I drift for a moment before I'm pulled to stand next to the green-eyed one, I know his name is Eboni now, but I don't know how. I see my body lying next to an entranced Yugi and I don't make the connection that I should be over there too. 'You're going to listen to me now, understood? I am your new master and you will not disobey me.' I hear a voice in my mind and look at Eboni, my eyes meeting his again. "Yes…master" I feel confused, wasn't there someone I wanted to see? Why was that blonde fighting my master's friend? Who was the other boy sitting next to me? But…I'm not sitting…so how am I here and over there?

I feel a jerk and hear my master scream in pain in my mind before I am back to where my body is lying down. I open my eyes and slowly sit up, my mind still in a fog, though I know enough to know Eboni was the one who caused this.

I look over to the Sheut and Eboni on the ground, each holding an eye as Malik stands over them, his arm pulled back to strike again. Sheut let out a very inhuman hiss before his body dissolves to a black stream of goo before that disappears. I stare at the spot where the boy was before I look at Malik who had taken a deep breath and turned to the other boy.

"I don't know who or what you are…but I swear if you don't beat it I will make it my personal job to beat _you_." He growls out, making it obvious that he wasn't going to look into the man's eyes. Eboni just smirks, his green eyes closing before he disappears in a cloud of black smoke, leaving behind the smell of rotting corpses.

My body feels numb, and I doubt I could move it even if I wanted to. I feel myself being pulled up into a standing position, and I want to respond, I do, but I _can't_. I can see, feel, and hear everything that is happening to me, I just can't _do _anything about it, and it annoys the frick out of me. I'm connected to my body but not to my brain.

Yugi's POV

OK. Weird. Ryou isn't responding to anything and Malik is storming out of the school grounds, pulling me and Ryou with him. I let him drag me, knowing he needed something to hold on to so he wouldn't lose it and glance over at Ryou. I can see in his eyes that he was trying to pull himself together, he looks so lost, like he can't even move his own limbs, though he seems to be walking fine.

I had gone into a sort of trance, when I looked into Sheut's eyes. I had felt like my entire body was being torn apart and I was fading away, like at Battle City without the pain. In fact, I hadn't felt anything, just the need to let go and fall into the darkness. It scared the crap out of me. It wasn't until Malik had punched Sheut and interrupted his concentration that I had woken up, and that's exactly what it was like, waking up from a deep sleep.

We reach my house with little incident, except that when Malik had finally let us go, to run ahead, Ryou had just stopped walking. It was scary. He has a glazed look about him and he will only do something if I guide him to, like he's in shock.

I didn't even notice the mind link forming again, since all my attention was focused on helping Ryou, until we had reached the door to the shop. Though by the way Malik had broken out running, I'm sure he had.

\Yami?!\

/Yugi.../ his voice came out in a relieved sigh /Are you coming home?/

\Yeah, Malik is already inside…something's wrong with Ryou though. I might be a little longer\

/Yes, I know, Bakura can't connect with him/

It took forever for me to even get into the shop, me having to keep the door open and guide Ryou at the same time. I was growing frustrated before we even reached the stairs. At the bottom of the steps, I stood for a minute and pouted, thinking of how I would get Ryou up there without either of us tripping.

Malik POV

**\Mariku?\ **I am unsure that the link is actually there, but the minute I felt a connection I had to try it.

**/Malik-pretty! Where are you?/**

**\Heading to Yugi's house. Where are you?\**

**/Yugi's house/ **This is accompanied by a crazed laugh that only Marik only possesses

**\Really? Look…Mariku…I-I wanted to apologize for Battle City. I've regretted it ever since and I've really missed you\**

**/You have?/ **The un-sureness in his voice made me wince

**\Yes! Ra, Mariku, I really have\**

I can hear the smirk in his voice and his tone sends chills down my spine and brings a blush to my face **/I've missed you too, hikari-pretty/**

It took all I had not to sprint to Yugi's house the minute I heard his voice, but the moment the house was in view, I did just that. I throw the door to the shop open and sprint up the stairs to the apartment. I hear voices in the living room and I walk in, noticing that Akefia, Atemu, and Grandpa were all there before I latch myself around Mariku's waist from where he was leaning against the wall.

I hear him grunt in surprise before his arms slowly wrap around my waist and tug me closer. I hadn't realized how scared I was until I bury my face in his shoulder, ignoring the slight pain I felt from my bruise to draw in a shaky breath, taking in his scent before I breath out "Mariku" in a soft whisper.

* * *

**SW: I think that's good, leaving it off at a good fluffy moment**

**Marik: I want more time with my hikari-pretty!**

**Malik: *smirks and sits in Marik's lap* Don't worry you'll get it**

**SW: AH! *covers eyes as they start to make out* Get a room!**


	4. Curing and Greeting

**SW: Next chapter is up! I'm on a roll!**

**Marik: Got any butter?**

**SW: What?**

**Marik: Well, you're on a roll…and I don't like to eat bread without butter.**

**SW: Are you implying that you want to eat me?**

**Marik: Oh. No. I suppose I should have asked 'Can I have it?' first, right? Damn manners.**

**SW:….you're crazy**

**Marik: Just realizin' this?**

**SW: I guess so….I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters…**** also I'm thinking of maybe changing to the narrators POV and staying there, cause honestly I'm no good at these first person POV things. And so I was rereading my third chapter and I realized that the symbol that I used for the Bakura-Ryou talk didn't show up (really sorry bout that) so I went back and changed it to something else.**

{Bakura to Ryou}

**Happy reading!**

* * *

Marik's POV

I see a blur of platinum blonde hair before I feel something latch onto my chest. I look down and see Malik gripping me like he never wanted to let go again with his eyes gripped closed. I wrap my arms around him and pull him up, burying my face in his hair and taking in the scent of lilac soap and incense, something that clung to him even after he left the underground world of his childhood. I hear him whisper my name shakily, like he's scared that I'll leave him the minute he does.

Let's quell that fear shall we? I lift his chin up and look in his breath-taking eyes before I fiercely press my lips onto his. I watch as his eyes close and he lets out a small moan. I smirk into the kiss, opening my mouth enough to brush my tongue against his bottom lip. He responds immediately, much to my delight, and opens his mouth to let my tongue in. I let my eyes close fully as I battle with his tongue, before he takes to sucking it, tugging at my tongue until it's fully in his mouth and our lips are touching again. I literally see white as his tongue strokes mine, and I hold back a moan as I grip Malik closer. Oh Ra, I can think of another thing that Malik could suck on with that talented mouth.

We are broken apart by a loud cough, which I identify as Bakura's. Malik buries his head in my chest and I can see the blush dusting his cheek. I glare at Bakura and move to sit in one of the two armchairs, pulling Malik on top of me. This working to not only hide it, but to show my hikari-pretty exactly what he did to me. I watch as his blush grows, smirking at how adorable my hikari-pretty is. He shifts down a little and I bite back a moan as I feel his ass grind into me. I look up at Malik and see him smirking back at me. That little imp.

Malik's POV

He kissed me. And I had kissed back. And now I'm practically giving him a lap dance. Oh Ra, if I'm dreaming please don't wake me up.

I hear stomping on the staircase, and look over to see an annoyed Yugi walk in. I blush as he pauses to take in my position, before beaming at Atemu who was sitting on the couch next to Bakura.

"Ya-Atemu!" he practically screams, and I can see Bakura cleaning out his ear as Yugi launches himself across the room to the now standing pharaoh, hitting him with enough force to send him back down to the couch.

The pharaoh chuckles and hugs Yugi back, "Hello Little One" he says as he straightens up, positioning himself so that Yugi never left his arms. This ended with Yugi sitting sideways in his lap, facing his grandpa in the other armchair and his back to Bakura, who had remained scowling on the couch.

"This is great and all, I just love reunions," Bakura spits out sarcastically, "but aren't you forgetting something?"

We all look at him blankly before he sighs and shakes his head, "Where's Ryou?"  
I glance at Yugi who had the beginnings of a huge blush on his cheeks "Oh…well, um…you see, he kind of…won't respond…to, well, anything…and I couldn't get him up the stairs" he says and hangs his head sheepishly.

"So you just left him there!" He looks up at the outburst, but Bakura had already stood up and was making his way to the staircase. I hear grumbling as he stomps down the stairs and stops at the bottom

"Malik-pretty, why didn't you help Yugi with Ryou?" Marik says next to my ear, his lips brushing against it, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

"I…well, I was so angry that we were attacked and then so excited to see you again that I never really noticed that there was anything wrong in the first place."

"Mmm..." I feel Marik open his mouth to say something more, but Bakura's reappearance shocks away both of our attentions, as he is tenderly holding onto an unresponsive Ryou, carrying him bridal style.

Bakura's POV

Seeing Ryou just standing there, staring blankly ahead, sends chills in my bones. It was the 'the lights were on but no one was home' look that had me the most worried, that and the feeling of shadow magic that lingered around his body.

"Ryou?" I ask, but I don't receive a response.

{Ryou?} Again nothing.

I snap my fingers in fronts of his face, but all he does is blink and focus his eyes on me, hitting me with an empty stare, that made it clear he wasn't going to be doing anything. I growl, annoyed, and gently pick up Ryou, making sure no limbs are hanging out before I carry him up the stairs, my anger growing at whoever would have done this to my hikari.

I ignore the surprised glances I get as I reenter the room and place Ryou down on the couch, his body slumping into it and his eyes staring at the coffee table.

"Yami," The pharaoh looks up as I use his name "he has a shadow spell on him" I know that the shadows are touchy, and as much as I hate to admit it, Yami has a better control over them and if it means swallowing my pride to not risk Ryou's sanity...so be it.

He nods and stands up, placing Yugi on the spot on the couch where he had just been sitting. I move out from in front of Ryou, letting the pharaoh take my place, and stand behind the couch, looking down at him.

The pharaoh takes hold of Ryou hands and I try not to growl at the way he caresses it. He reaches up and touches Ryou's face, his eyes becoming swallowed by black for a minute before he shakes his head and gestures for Marik to come over "It's a mind control spell"

"Someone is controlling my hikari!" I shout, watching as Marik walks over to replace Yami, knowing that since he had used to Millennium Rod, he would be the best at this sort of spell.

I watch as Marik touches Ryou's face as well and speaks in a distant voice that sounded nothing like the crazed Marik I knew,"Not really. That had been the main reason for the spell being cast, but the spell was broken off before it was completed, and now it looks like Ryou's soul can't reenter his body."

"Ryou doesn't have his soul?" I asked, somehow that was a lot worse than the mind control.

Marik removes his hand and shakes his head in a similar way that Yami had before smirking at me "What's the matter? You've taken plenty of souls, you should know what that's like."

"Which is exactly why I don't want Ryou to go through it!"

Narrator's POV  
"Um…what's happening here?" Malik asked from the armchair, confused.

A new voice joined in the conversation "An evil force tried to take over Ryou's soul by removing it from his body, where it would be more vulnerable and easier to manipulate. However, someone else interrupted the spell in the middle of it, leaving Ryou's partly detached from his body."

Everyone glanced over to the second armchair in shock. "Grandpa?" Yugi asked timidly.

Solomon Mutou laughed, "Yes, my boy? Oh, don't look at me all surprised, I studied Ancient Egypt in my day, so it should be obvious that I know a thing or two about shadow magic." He stood up slowly, his bones creaking and his eyes closed in pain, earning a concerned look from his grandson. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll leave you youngsters to save the world again…I haven't been feeling well lately, so I think I'll go lay down for a while."

"Wait! Grandpa!" Malik shouts out, surprising everyone "Do you know how to fix him?"

"Of course I do, Malik" his eyes gleamed with hidden mirth "Just have whoever interrupted the spell tell Ryou to wake up" and with that he left the room.

"Is it really that simple?" Yugi asked as he glanced at the others.

"I guess it is" Yami replied "But who interrupted it?"

"Uh, I did" Malik shifted uncomfortably in the chair "I kind of punched the guy who was casting the spell in the face."

Marik lets out a laugh and goes to cuddle his hikari, but misses as Malik stands up and walks over to Ryou, causing him to land in the armchair with a pout.

"Um, Ryou?...wake up"

For a minute it looked as if nothing happened, Ryou just blinked and stared back at the group of people before he let out a scream, scaring everyone in the room.

"Holy crap! I can move! I can talk! Oh my god, yes! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyou!" he wrapped his arms around Malik's neck, affectively choking him. Ryou no longer felt the distant, disconnected feeling that he had started to grow accustomed to. He hadn't even been able to react when he saw Bakura again, and now...he could feel! He could talk and he could connect to what was happening!

Marik smirked at the position Malik-pretty was in before stating "Ryou, you're going to kill him if you don't let go soon," which earned a glare from Malik.

Ryou just laughed and jumped up, toppling over Malik in the process, "You have no idea how good this feels!"

"Glad you feel good." Malik mumbled from the floor, grabbing the hand Marik offered to help him up, only to have himself pulled into a muscled chest. "I can make you feel good, Malik-pretty." Marik whispered into Malik's ear, drawing his tongue down the edge of it.

Malik shivered and pushed away, "N-no, that's okay" Marik frowned as Malik retreated to sit next to Yugi, wondering what he did wrong.

Ryou had jumped around the couch before he paused, slowly taking in who was standing in the room with him.

His eyes shined with unshed tears and hope as he looked at the scowling man in front of him, "A-Akefia?"

If at all possible the scowl deepened and he let out a simple grunt "Yeah"

Ryou blinked a few times before going to stand in front of Bakura, looking up at him. Then, Ryou's face contorted uncharacteristically in anger, his eyes narrowing and a frown forming on his face, making him look more and more like Bakura. As the others stared in shock, Ryou lifted up his hand and slapped it across Bakura's face.

"I haven't seen you in a year and you don't even have the decency to smile at me?!" Ryou's voice starts to break, "Did you even miss me? Because if you didn't then you might as well go back to wherever you came from, cause I don't want to spend my time with someone who honestly doesn't want to be around me!"

With that he stormed out of the room and down the stairs, slamming the door to the shop behind him.

Bakura just held his now reddening cheek and stared after Ryou "Fuck"

* * *

**SW: What? Did you really think that none of them wouldn't get mad? I mean I'm sure Ryou'll regret it later, but I hope you didn't expect it to be 'hooray we are all back together now! Kumbaya!' cause that just isn't how life works. I really wanted a MalikxMarik scene and Yugi just doesn't seem like the one to hold a grudge to me. That leaves Ryou. Sorry Bakura!**

**Bakura: Whatever. Just make sure we get to have makeup sex**

**Ryou: *blush* Ba-Bakura!**

**Bakura: *smirk* What?**

**SW: Tell me what you liked, what you didn't, let me know if you want to have an idea put in! I mean I have a pretty general idea on where I want this to go, but if it's a really good idea, I'll do my best to work it in!**


	5. Coming Together

**SW: I donated blood! I'm so proud of myself because I'm deathly afraid of needles. I got through the entire pint without fainting once! It helped that one of my best friends was right next to me doing it at the same time with me. That and the nurses kept me talking and told me that I would get pretzels and apple juice after, which I did! It's a great cause and I think everyone should do it at least once.**

{Bakura to Ryou}

}Ryou to Bakura{

**Here's the next chapter! (I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!)**

* * *

Everyone just stares at the door where Ryou had left, all in shock that it would be the calm-headed one to get angry.

"Damn it" Bakura swears again, his voice breaking the silence, "Yugi," the boy in question jerks his head away from staring at the door to looking at Bakura, "where would Ryou go if he was angry?"

"Um…well, if I had to guess, either the park or the cemetery, but I've never seen him that angry before so…"

"Thanks" Bakura says abruptly, his voice cold and indifferent as he stuffs his hands in his pockets before he walks out the door, "See you guys later"

The thick silence that follows Bakura's exit remains unbroken for a few minutes before Malik clears his throat from the armchair, "So where are you staying Mariku?"

Marik smirks and walks behind the chair, wrapping his arms around Malik from behind, "Why, hikari-pretty, were you hoping I would stay with you?"

A blush spreads across Malik's face, "N-no."

"I think you're lying, hikari-pretty." Marik whispers next to Malik's ear, "I think I need to teach you not to lie to me."

Malik flinches and abruptly stands up, breaking away from a confused Marik. "I-if you need a place to stay though, you can stay if with me…if you want to"

The pout that had formed from being denied fades into a smirk as Marik stands and brushes off his pants "Of course I would" he walks over wraps and arm around Malik's waist, pulling the hikari closer so that their hips brushed each other, "If you'll excuse us, Yami, Yugi, I think I'd like to go see my new home" Marik's hand drifts underneath Malik's hip, causing Malik to stiffen and bolt out of Marik's grip again, this time making an escape to the staircase.

"Kay, see you later Yugi!" could be heard over the footsteps speeding down the stairs.

Marik frowns and follows after his hikari, "See ya"

Yami glances to Yugi as Marik leaves, seeing Yugi staring back at him, and Yugi looks down with a blush at being caught. Yami smirks, "See something you like Yugi?"

Yugi 'eep's and if possible the blush grows redder. Yami walks over to the couch, sitting down next to his aibou. He wraps his arm around Yugi's waist and smiles as Yugi leans into his chest, cuddling closer, closing his eyes in bliss.

"I missed you, Yugi" Yami whispers into Yugi's hair, causing said hikari's eyes to fly open and his body to turn and look up at Yami.

"I-I really missed you too…Atemu"

Yami sighs at the old name and shakes his head, making Yugi look at him confused. Yami wraps his other arm around Yugi and hugs him tight, burying his head further in his aibou's hair, taking in the scent of cherries and lilies. "Please call me Yami, I am no longer Atemu, he died over 5,000 years ago, and though I might have his memories, we are not the same person"

Yugi smiles and nods his head, turning to bury his face in Yami's chest, "M'kay, Yami", noticing how the name slips out of his mouth easier than the other, more foreign name.

They sit there for a while before Yugi lets out a yawn. Yami smirks and picks Yugi up bridal style, earning another 'eep' and blush. "Come on, let's get you to bed, I think I remember where it is."

Yugi gulps and nods his head, trying to hide the growing blush on his face by turning his head into Yami's shoulder. They reach Yugi's room and Yami throws him on the bed, the smirk on his face growing at the resulting squeal. He crawls on the bed with Yugi, not bothering to mention that they had yet to change their clothes, and snuggles close.

Yami had started to drift off, the intoxicating smell of his aibou almost enough to send him into a daze, when he hears a small voice whisper, "Yami?"

"Hm?" he answers not opening his eyes and not moving his head. "Did you…did you like the afterlife, mou hitori no boku?"

_That _got his attention. He hadn't heard that name in a very long time. "Why do you ask, aibou?"

"Well, if you liked it there…I was wondering…what I'm trying to say is if…why did you come back? _How _did you come back?"

Yami lets his head fall back down and squeezes Yugi closer to him, "I will admit that I enjoyed the afterlife, the peace and calm was nice after saving the world one too many times…" Yami watches as Yugi's head drops and he sighs out, "Oh."

"…however, I would have gone through saving the world a million times more if it meant I could get another day with you. Yugi, the gods allowed me to return because I wished to, not because I was forced. The peace and calm meant nothing to me when I couldn't enjoy it with you. In fact, it almost drove me to insanity." Yami says, trailing his fingers up and down Yugi's sides, causing him to shriek and jump away, choking a laugh. Yami chases after him, pinning Yugi underneath him as he lets his hands attack Yugi's stomach again.

"N-no fair! Yami!" Yugi laughs out and shrieks as he squirms under Yami.

Yami finally relents, not moving as Yugi catches his breathe. Once he realizes the position they're in, however, a bright red blush forms on Yugi's cheeks. "Uh, Yami? Can you get off?"

Yami smirks and answers, leaning forward to whisper next to Yugi's ear, "I don't think I mind the position we're in, aibou. In fact, I kind of like it." To prove his point, he grinds his hips down, rubbing his own semi-hard erection against Yugi's, watching as Yugi threw his head back against the pillow and bit his lip, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a small moan.

Deciding to tease a little more, Yami leans forward again and begins to nibble on his aibou's neck, "What was that, Yugi? I don't think I heard you correctly." Yugi lets out a whimper and leans into Yami's lips, squirming to get more attention. Smirking, Yami trails kisses up Yugi's jawline, stopping just short of his mouth, looking up to meet Yugi's eyes. He sees Yugi pout before gaining a mischievous gleam in his eye that could only mean trouble for Yami.

Yugi lifts his hips, gaining a breathless moan from Yami as their erections brush each other again. He trails his hands down Yami's shirt, a little unsure but stubborn in the fact that he was going to do what Yami was doing to him. His eyes follow his hands as he reaches under and grips the waistband of Yami's pants, letting his cool fingers rest on Yami's hips, caressing them gently. He hears a groan from above and looks up to see Yami with his eyes closed, obviously trying to reel himself in. "Did you say something, Yami?"

The man in question frowns down at his hikari, watching as an uncharacteristic smirk spreads across his face. "Well, aren't you a dirty little hikari."

Yugi shrugs, taking his hands away from Yami, "I try my-" Yami leans forward and brushes his lips with Yugi's in a chaste kiss, stopping whatever he was going to say next. A blush spreads across Yugi's face and a smile breaks out. Yami pulls back just enough to look into Yugi's eyes, deciding that he was going to take the leap, gods be damned. "Yugi…I love you"

* * *

Marik stares at Malik-pretty's back, his eyes drifting down to watch his ass sway as he walked. "Malik-pretty…" he starts off, breaking the silence that had ensued the moment they left the house, "Did I do something wrong? If I did, I apologize, I didn't mean to."

Malik doesn't answer, since he was lost in his thoughts, and instead turns into an apartment building and starts up the stairs, not wanting to be stuck in an elevator with Marik.

"Malik?..." Malik again didn't answer, seeming to not notice that Marik had not added onto his name. He puts his ear to the door, hoping beyond hope that his father wasn't home. He couldn't hear anything, so he reaches into his pocket and brings out his keys, unlocking the door into the apartment.

"It's not much, and might become a little crowded with an extra person, Mariku, I hope you don't mind." Malik finally speaks, leading the way into the living room, than opening a door that was connected to it. "You can sleep in my bedroom, I'll sleep on the couch."

"Malik, call me Marik and…_I'm_ the guest, _I _should sleep on the couch."

Malik shifts uncomfortably and glances at another door down the hall. "No, it's alright, it's better for you to sleep in my room, come on, I'll show where everything is."

Marik stands in the door of what Malik considered a bedroom, if you could call it that, the small space cramped with the necessities. A twin-sized cot, not even a mattress, was placed in the far right corner, a thin knitted blanket covering it, with no pillow. Next to it, but since the room was so small it was in the far left corner as well, was a small, wooden cabinet, about knee-height and about arms-width wide. There was a miniature wooden table in the corner to Marik's left, the door being in the last corner, and it had only a miniature mirror and a small brush on top of it. He opened the small wardrobe and said, "This is where I keep all my clothes, I figured that you probably don't have any to change into, and we're about the same size, so you can borrow mine. I'll see if I can find a pillow for you somewhere and there's a lock on the door if you ever want privacy."

"Malik…"

"Yes?" Marik watches as Malik turns and finally meets his eye, only to glance away again and wrap his arms around his stomach.

Marik takes in Malik's stance, that of fright and defense, and thinks better of confronting him about his father at the moment. "…nothing"

"Okay. I think there's some food left from yesterday's dinner, is that alright?" Malik walks past Marik, but just as he was about to walk into the small kitchen, Marik grabs Malik's arm and pulls him into his body, turning Malik around so he faced Marik.

Marik then proceeds to bite and nibble at Malik's neck, tired of the game Malik had been playing. "Did that kiss mean nothing, Malik-pretty?" Marik breaths out as he trails his tongue up Malik's neck to look in his eyes, seeing them half-lidded in pleasure.

"Hm?" Malik sounded dazed, "No!…of course not"

"Are you afraid of me?" this question accompanied by a nick to the ear, earning a shiver from Malik

"No" Malik pants out, his breath coming heavier.

"Good." Marik places his mouth full on Malik's, letting his back fall against the wall as Malik pushed back into the kiss.

Marik was shocked when he felt a tongue press on his lips, entering when he opened it. He fights with Malik for dominance as Malik explores his mouth, and holds Malik up as his knees went weak.

Malik's arms wrap around Marik's neck, deepening the kiss even further. Marik takes over the kiss, overpowering Malik and pressing into his mouth, mapping out every inch of it. He slides his hands down Malik's back, stopping at the belt line, in a silent question for permission, never once breaking the kiss. Malik breaks apart for air and nods his head, dotting kisses over Marik's face and neck while catching his breath.

Marik smirks and starts unbuckling Malik's belt, pulling him back in for another kiss. Just as he was about to remove it, he was torn from the kiss, hearing a cry of pain as Malik was ripped from his arms and thrown to the ground.

* * *

Bakura had started searching in the park, since that was closer to Yugi's and was now walking towards Ryou's house, knowing the cemetery that Ryou went to was near there. He watches as the sun goes down, he hadn't realized that he had spent that long in the park.

He walks past Ryou's house, turning the next corner and stopping at the entrance of the cemetery. He jumps over the locked fence, grunting as he landed on the balls of his toes. He walks for a while, strolling with his hands in his pockets, noticing that it had gotten much colder and the sky was gathering darkness quickly.

{Yadonushi?} Bakura had used the mind link before, to no avail, but he could tell he was closer to Ryou here, and he was hoping Ryou would answer once he knew he was in the cemetery.

}Go away!{ Bakura smirks at being right, not hearing or ignoring the sob in the voice that echoed through his head.

{I don't think so yadonushi, I'm going to find you and we are going to speak in person, whether or not you like it.} Bakura made sure that he left no room for argument, knowing that Ryou would recognize this tone of voice.

{I-I'm in the-the back} Ryou's voice had started to hiccup and as Bakura starts to walk towards the back of the cemetery, he hears something that caused his chest to hurt. Ryou was _crying. _'Ra damn it' Bakura thinks, rolling his eyes.

He walks around and finally finds Ryou hiding behind the leaves of a willow tree, 'You didn't make it easy, Rabbit'

"There you are" Bakura says gruffly, walking over and grabbing onto Ryou's arm, pulling him up, "C'mon we're getting you home."

"What ma-akes you think I want to go wi-ith you?" Ryou's voice was still hiccupping, making it evident that he was still upset.

"I'm not giving you a choice." Bakura growls out, tugging on Ryou to get him moving, "We're going home."

"No." Bakura stares in shock as Ryou sits back down, not meeting Bakura's eyes and crossing his arms, "I let you order me around once before and I am not going down that road again."

Ryou keeps his eyes focused on the ground, waiting for Bakura to leave, but to his shock Bakura sits down a few feet behind him, leaning back against the tree, "Fine by me, I just thought you would have found this place creepy at night." He reaches his arms up and puts them behind his head, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Well I _didn't _until you said something, Akefia." And Ryou was telling the truth, in fact he hadn't even noticed that it was night until Bakura had pointed it out he crawls back to the base of the tree, trying to get closer to Bakura without him knowing.

Bakura pretends to not notice and keeps talking, "Don't call me Akefia, it's annoying, and just think about it, I mean who knows what could be lurking here tonight, snakes, owls, rats…the list goes on forever."

"Ba-Bakura?" Ryou is now glancing nervously around, unconsciously leaning against Bakura's shoulder as he stares into the darkness from the safety of the willow tree.

"Hm?"

"Please stop talking."

"Whatever you say, yadonushi." As soon as Bakura had finished talking, there was a loud screech that carried through the graveyard, causing Ryou to grip Bakura's arm and look around warily.

Bakura glances down at Ryou's pale hand griping his arm and lightly smiles, before frowning as Ryou speaks again, "What was that?"

"I don't know, probably just a rat, if not, then a crow." Ryou shivers and stands up at that and takes a step forward, "Okay, I think I want to go now."

"Really? And I was just getting comfortable…" Ryou narrows his eyes at Bakura when he makes no move to get up.

"Bakura…" Ryou's voice dragging out his name, "Can we plea-" Ryou erupts in coughing, bending over and grasping at his chest in pain.

Bakura jumps up and is at Ryou's side in a minute. "What's wrong? Are you sick?" 'Idiot, idiot, idiot, of course he's sick, you saw that in the vision.'

Ryou shakes his head, and stands up straight again, he clears his throat before speaking, "No, I'm fine," his voice sounds strained, "Can we go now?"

"…Yeah ,sure, c'mon, follow me" 'What? Like he doesn't know the way to his own house?' Bakura walks ahead, hands in his pockets, listening for any sound of sickness coming from the boy who was closely following him.

Another animal sound calls out, this one more of a hiss, and Ryou jerks forward, grabbing on to the back of Bakura's shirt. Bakura doesn't react and allows Ryou to hold on the entire way to the gate, letting a small, tiny smile flick across his face occasionally.

* * *

**SW: There, I think that's good. The next chapter will for sure have at least one lemons fair warning.**

**Marik: FINALLY!**

**SW: Hey, I never said it would be with you and Malik.**

**Bakura: *smirks at Marik* Ha.**

**SW: I never promised anything to you either, Bakura.**

**Yami: *hugs onto Yugi* Yes!**

**SW: Or you, Yami.**

**All three: Then who are you going to write?**

**SW: I don't know yet! Just because I haven't promised it to any of you doesn't none of you won't have them…if that makes any sense.**

**Marik: It doesn't**

**Bakura: You should be talking!**

***argument ensues in background***

**Please tell me how I did! What did you like? What did you hate? Did I make any mistakes? I'm dying to know!**


	6. In Sickness and In Health

**SW: Here I am again!**

**Bakura: You're behind in writing your chapters**

**SW: I know! I don't know why I'm having trouble writing these chapter, but don't worry, I plan to catch up this week! Oh, and this chapter WILL have a lemon, so if you don't like that (which I don't understand why you would read something rated M if you didn't) ignore the stuff in between the bold.**

**And thank you to my first review WhoWantsPie! I know that you reviewed on chapter 2 and this is chapter 6 but I wanted you to thank you anyway! THANK YOU! Also, I'm changing how many times I update in a week, because I just don't have the time to write as quick as I have been, sorry! It'll be Tuesdays and Thursdays now instead of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It takes Marik a minute to process exactly what had happened and when he does he erupts in rage.

"You little slut! I bet he paid you to kiss him, huh? What I can't believe, fucker, is why anyone would WANT to!" Malik's father begins kicking Malik, and he curls into a ball, not caring who could see, just wishing the pain would end.

Marik steps forward and grabs Aswad Ishtar's shoulder, spinning him around, straight into his fist. Aswad stumbles back a little before turning his enraged face onto Marik, "Oh, so you think you can protect this little fucker? Well, let me tell you, it's too late, this bitch already knows he's a waste of space and that he's the reason his mother died." As he was talking, Marik had let the shadows completely take him over, and his eyes turn completely black.

"You don't know who you're messing with" The calmness in Marik's voice shows that he was no longer in control and the shadows start to leak from all corners of the room, creeping towards Malik's father, who fails to notice.

"You think you're all that don't you? I hope you know the slut you paid for isn't that well-endowed, if you know what I mean. Believe me, I know."

With that one statement, the shadows lash out, responding to the burning anger inside Marik. They attack Aswad, who recognizes them at once for what they are, and begins to scream. This only excites the shadows more and they lick at the blood that bubbled up from wherever the shadows attacked. Marik just watches with a blank expression as Malik's father is dissolved into bones, before even those disappear into nothing. The shadows fall away, having completed their job, and Marik takes a step back to regain his balance as his eyes fade back to his red-violet.

He looks around confused for a moment before he spots Malik on the floor, head still buried in his legs, arms curled around his body. Malik had not moved once, not even looking up as he heard his father's screams, not wanting to face Marik when he was angry, knowing it was worse than when even his father was on a rampage. Marik walks toward Malik, noticing that as he got closer, he curled into an even tighter ball.

He places a hand on Malik's shoulder, trying not to be hurt when Malik flinches away and says, "It's okay, he's gone now." Malik hesitates for a moment before he turns and latches his arms around Marik's neck, sobbing into his shoulder. Marik sits in shock for a moment before slowly and awkwardly wrapping his arms around Malik, rubbing small circles in his back. He tries his best to comfort his hikari, not used to the job even though he was a protector. "Sh, sh. You're okay." Marik whispers into Malik's hair. Malik takes a shaky breath and lifts his head to wipe at his eyes. "Th-thanks, Marik"

"Anything, hikari-pretty." Malik just buries his head again in Marik's shoulder and doesn't even move when Marik reaches around and carries him bridal style to his bed, lying him down on it. He was standing up to leave for the couch when he feels a hand gripping his shirt. He looks down and sees Malik holding on for dear life, pleading with his eyes.

Marik scowls, thinking of how Malik's father had turned a beautiful, strong hikari-pretty into a scared, cowering mess. Malik thinks Marik is scowling at him and immediately lets go, backing up into a corner, scared. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I just didn't want to be alone, I'm sorry, you can go, I'm sorry." Malik starts blurting out apologies and buries his head in his knees.

Marik stares in shock at Malik before climbing into the bed and pulling a reluctant Malik into his chest. "Don't ever think I'm mad at _you_, Malik-pretty."

Malik just relaxes into Marik's broad chest, a blush playing across his face as he realizes how comfortable he is there.

* * *

Bakura walked down the road, a little disappointed that as soon as they had exited the graveyard, Ryou had let go and had drifted back to walk slightly behind Bakura. He crossed his arms and picked up speed, not noticing how Ryou fell even more behind now, his breath coming heavy. Bakura reached the house and looked behind to see Ryou just turning the corner, his head bent down.

"C'mon yadonushi! I'm cold!" Ryou looks up and nods, walking up and past Bakura to unlock the door. Bakura pushes past Ryou, not seeing Ryou stumble back and shake his head to get his balance back.

"You haven't changed it a bit." Bakura says gruffly.

"N-" Ryou's voice comes out scratchy and he clears his throat before speaking again, "No." This Bakura notices and turns to glance at his hikari, seeing him leaning his entire body against the corner of the wall, his eyes closed. Bakura scowls and walks over, grabbing Ryou's arm. "We're getting you to bed. You're sick." Ryou widens his eyes at Bakura and staggers slightly when Bakura tugs him to the stairs. Bakura grunts and bends his knees, glancing back at Ryou. "Get on. It'll take forever if you walk." Ryou blushes and nods his head, climbing on Bakura's back and burying his head in the crook of his neck. As Bakura climbs up the stairs to his bedroom, Ryou doesn't notice that Bakura shivers every time his breath brushes against Bakura's neck.

'Ra damn it, Rabbit,' Bakura takes a deep breath and tries to quell the feelings that were swelling inside him. 'You're lucky you're sick'

Ryou tries his best to push down the blush that was slowly forming on his cheeks, 'Does 'Kura actually care?' he smiles and snuggles in closer, not realizing that Bakura stiffened at the movement, 'Right now, it doesn't matter, I'm happy'

Bakura opens the door and walks to the bed, roughly depositing Ryou there, earning a squeak. He walks away to the door, listening as Ryou crawls under the blankets. He halts at the door when he hears a tired voice whisper, "Thanks, 'Kura" he turns around to stare at Ryou, only to see him already fast asleep, a small smile on his face. Bakura nods his head and continues downstairs to the couch where he eventually falls asleep.

Bakura jolts awake to the sound of retching and looks around wildly as the noise continues. Narrowing his eyes at the bright lights of the electronic clock above the TV, he sees the time, 1:43 AM. He sighs and slowly stands up, walking up to Ryou's room. He walks in and sees the bathroom that connects to Ryou's room has its lights on.

Ryou had woken up suddenly with a strange feeling in his stomach and had tried his best to ignore it and go back to sleep. The feeling had grown into an uncomfortable but familiar pressure in his chest. He jerks up, ignoring the pounding pain in his head to rush to the bathroom. He grips the corner of the counter and bends over the toilet, just as he starts to vomit.

Bakura walks into the bathroom to see Ryou, one hand reaching to grip the counter, the other on the floor holding him up. He's coughing into the toilet, hair falling over a sweat covered face, and wincing every time he takes a breath.

Bakura walks to the sink and starts to open drawers. He smirks when he finds hair ties, and a few brushes, grabbing one of each. He goes around the still retching Ryou and starts to tie back Ryou's hair in a low ponytail. Ryou stiffens for a moment before the next round of vomit comes up and he's bent back over the toilet. Bakura winces at the sounds his hikari is making before going back to his search. He takes a small paper cup and fills it with water. At this point, Ryou was looking up and squinting up into the lights, trying to make out what Bakura was doing.

Bakura shoves the cup of water under Ryou's nose, "Here." Ryou smiles and nods his head, reaching up to the top of the sink, grabbing a bottle of pills that had been conveniently placed within reach of the toilet. Bakura frowns as Ryou shakily takes the cap off and swallows one of the pills with the water, placing the bottle back on the countertop.

Ryou starts to stand, but his legs give out from underneath and he falls forward into Bakura, blushing as he feels arms wrap around him, holding him up. Bakura just rolls his eyes and picks up Ryou bridal style, carrying him back to the bed. His brow furrows and he scowls as Ryou curls into a ball and starts coughing as soon he is down. He climbs into the bed and wraps his arms around Ryou, pulling him into his chest. Ryou looks up in shock, but Bakura is deliberately not making eye contact, instead glaring into a pillow next to them. Ryou smiles and turns into Bakura's chest, giggling a little as he feels Bakura stiffen at the movement. He feels his eyes drift close and he doesn't know if it's from the medicine or the warmth of Bakura's body.

On anyone else, the face that Bakura had on could be called a pout. He looks down and sees Ryou cuddled close into his body. He doesn't fail to notice how well they fit together and how he feels with his arms around his hikari. He shakes his head and scowls, 'No! I do NOT feel that way about Rabbit!' Ryou mumbles and shifts in his sleep and Bakura unconsciously tightens his grip on him, '...shit…'

* * *

Yami searched Yugi's face for a sign of denial, but found none. Yugi brightly smiles and lifts up his head, pausing just before his lips touch Yami's, "I love you too, Yami" The whisper causes a shiver to go down Yami's spine as Yugi's breath brushes across his lip.

Yami smirks down and presses down, the ferocious kiss totally different then the tender one he had given Yugi before. Yugi lets his head be pushed back into the pillow, letting out a small moan that only seemed to increase fierceness Yami was kissing with.

Yami moves the kisses down Yugi's neck, loving the little mewls and sighs that he caused. He starts to unbutton Yugi's shirt and smirks into his neck as he feels Yugi's hands gripping the top of his shirt and pulling up, expressing his desire for the removal of it.

**LEMON STARTS HERE!**

Yami rips off Yugi's shirt and unbuttons his pants and boxers, sliding them down so that Yugi was completely naked before him. Yami places kisses around Yugi's apparent arousal and smirks as Yugi squirms under him. "Yami…" He hears Yugi let out a whine and looks up to see Yugi look down at him with lust-filled eyes. He trails his tongue from tip to base of Yugi's penis and listens to the strangled moan that Yugi makes. "Yes Yugi?"

Yugi throws his head back and closes his eyes, trying to remember what he was going to say. "Uh…" He knows he's panting and he opens his eyes again as he feels Yami place hands on both of his hips. He looks down and watches as Yami licks at his head, before he lets head fall back again with another moan. He lets out a small scream as Yami swallows him whole, all the way to the base. He grips Yami's hair and tries to thrust up, earning a chuckle from Yami. The resulting vibrations made Yugi see white and he lets out a third, louder moan.

Yami sucks at Yugi's dick, bobbing up and down, releasing Yugi's hips and allowing him to thrust up, forcing him to deep throat his hikari. "Ya-Yami. I'm going to-to…" The warning came too late and Yami lets Yugi come in his mouth, swallowing it all and licking at Yugi to make sure he got it all. He crawls back up to Yugi, and seeing him sweaty and panting with his eyes closed was enough to make him harder than he had ever been before. He places a kiss Yugi's cheek and watches as Yugi opens his eyes again.

Yugi blushes and looks down, his eyes widening at Yami's hard-on. "…Uh…um, Yami?"

"Yes aibou?" Yami begins kissing and sucking on Yugi's neck and Yugi tries his hardest to remain concentrated.  
"Do you…do you, um, want help with, uh, that?" There is no hesitation in Yami's voice when he replies, "Yes."

Yugi blushes and nods his head, hesitantly reaching his hand out and grasping around Yami, looking up in surprise as Yami closes his eyes and moans. Yugi smirks lightly and pushes Yami down with his other hand, and ends up straddling his waist, one hand still holding onto his penis. He bites his lip and slides his hand slowly up and down, not entirely sure of what he was doing. He hears Yami moan again and looks up to see him watching with hooded and lust-filled eyes. Yugi fiddles with Yami's head, jerking up in shock as Yami thrusts his hips up, his breaths coming in pants. Yugi pauses for a minute, thinking, and watches as Yami whine lowly at the lack of attention. Yugi's eyes widen at shock at the sound that had come from Yami's throat, seeing him with his eyes closed, and panting roughly, wondering if he could really make Yami feel that good. Yami had done it to him…so maybe…

Yugi bends his head down and wraps his mouth around the tip of Yami's penis. He feels Yami jerk in shock and let out a dragged out moan. Yugi takes Yami in deeper and feels Yami grip his hair, making it impossible to move away. He hears Yami growl out "Dear Ra Yugi" as he brushes his teeth against Yami's base. He closes his eyes and starts to pull up, dragging his tongue against the vein on the bottom and listening to the resulting groan. Yami's hands stop him from pulling all the way out but that didn't matter to Yugi. He slams his mouth back down, swallowing as much as he could at once. Yami grips his hair tighter and Yugi opens his eyes to see Yami throw his head against the pillow and arch his back. Yugi closes his eyes again and moans at the feeling of Yami in his mouth and begins to feel Yami strain underneath him.

It wasn't too much of a surprise that Yami came, but it was enough to shock Yugi, filling his mouth and overflowing before he could swallow it all, so some spills out onto Yami's chest and penis and onto Yugi's chin. Yugi sits back and licks at his lips, trying to decide whether or not he liked the taste. He looks up at Yami, seeing him staring at him and panting, gripping the bed sheets. Yugi decides it isn't a taste he would die for, but if it made Yami happy…he finds that if he stretches his tongue out a little he can reach what had fallen on his chin. After he had gotten that, he bends over again to lick away the cum on Yami's chest.

A hand reaches out and grips Yugi's shoulder, stopping him just before he would have started. "I wouldn't do that, aibou, you look good enough as it is, but seeing you like that might make me wanna go again."

If Yami could see Yugi's face, he would have seen the slight smirk before he reaches his tongue out, stretching it out to slowly and lightly lick at Yami's stomach.

Yami growls and flips their positions, so that he was now on top. Seeing the smirk on Yugi's face, Yami leans down to kiss him, but stops just before and grazes his tongue against Yugi's bottom lip, earning a whimper, "You little imp." Yami then moves down to Yugi's chest, latching down on one of his nipples, and twirling it with his tongue. Yugi arches his back and his eyelids flutter at the new feeling, and when he opens his eyes fully again he sees three fingers in front of him. "Suck." Yami orders and Yugi complies, taking the fingers in his mouth and stroking them with his tongue, never taking his eyes off of Yami.

Yami swallows hard as Yugi covers his fingers with saliva, "Ok that's enough" he removes his fingers, trying not to hear the 'pop' Yugi made and not to notice the smirk on Yugi's face as he licks his lips. Yami moves his fingers to Yugi's entrance, noticing him stiffen, and starts to circle the muscles there. "You don't have to do this you know" however much Yami wanted to take his beautiful little hikari as his own, if Yugi was uncomfortable, then they wouldn't do it.

Yugi shakes his head, "No, I want this" Yami nods and slowly puts the first finger in, seeing Yugi pout a little at the pain, he waits until Yugi nods before he pulls it out again, this time entering with two fingers. Yami watches as Yugi lets out a small squeak, closing his eyes at the discomfort, and only opening them after Yami had begun kissing his stomach. Yugi nods again and Yami watches Yugi's reaction as he begins to move his fingers in a scissor-like motion, stretching Yugi out. Yugi squeezes his eyes shut and lets out a whimper, trying to stay relaxed and get used to the uncomfortable feeling.

Yami watches as Yugi struggles not to tense, before he nods again. "Yugi, are you sure? If you aren't ready, we can stop" Yugi shakes his head, his eyes opening, "No, I want this." Yami nods and pulls out until just his fingertips are still in, and enters again, this time with three fingers. He moves quickly into a scissor-like motion, knowing it would be easier. He feels Yugi arch his back against his fingers, letting out another whimper. It takes a moment for him to relax again, and another before he lets out a scream of pleasure. Yami's face of concentration breaks out into a smirk, and he moves his fingers in the same way to hit the little ball of muscles that was making his aibou squirm against the bed sheets.

Yami pulls his fingers all the way out, listening to the whine that came from the body below him. He places himself at Yugi's entrance, noticing how Yugi immediately stiffens, even if he had relaxed during the preparation. "Relax, it'll make you hurt less." Yugi bites his lips and nods, forcing his muscles to relax. Yami slowly pushes his way in, not stopping until he was in at the hilt. He moans at the tightness he feels around him and has to clench his hands in fists next to Yugi's head to not slam into his aibou and never stop. Yugi grips the sheets and feels tears on his face, only to have them kissed away by Yami.

Yami presses his lips against Yugi's, trying to distract him from the pain. When he hears a moan he lifts his head back up and Yugi nods, showing that he was ready. Yami pulls out and slides back in, forcing himself to take a slow pace, knowing Yugi still felt a little pain.

"Ya-Yami!" At hearing his name, Yami meets Yugi's eyes and falls into two pools of deep, lust-filled violet. "Please! Mo-more!" Yami nods, knowing what Yugi wanted and slowly picks up the pace. He watches Yugi scream and arch away from the bed when he hits his prostate and Yami starts to pant, feeling his release coming on. He picks up the pace, slamming into Yugi's prostate each time, earning screams and loud moans from the person he was smashing into.

"Yami! Ah!" Yugi screams and reaches up to grip Yami's shoulders, his nails digging into the skin.

"Ra, Yugi…You're so tight" Yami pants out, reaching down to stroke at Yugi's neglected member in time with each of his thrusts.

Yugi screams one last time before he releases onto his and Yami's chest. Yami follows soon after, spilling his seed into Yugi when he feels Yugi's warm, tight walls squeeze around him.

**LEMON ENDS HERE!  
**Yami collapses onto the bed next Yugi, barely having enough time to pull out as exhaustion takes him over. He and Yugi look at each other, panting, before Yugi's eyes drift shut with a sigh and he falls asleep mumbling, "M'love you, 'ami"

Yami smiles and pulls Yugi onto his chest, wrapping his arms around his aibou, his smile widening as Yugi curls closer. "I love you too, Yugi," and both fall asleep with smiles on their faces.

* * *

**SW: I just love ending at fluffy moments, don't I?**

**Ryou: Yep!**

**Yugi: And we love it!**

**SW: I haven't had you in my author notes in a while, Yugi, where have you been?**

**Yugi: *blush* um…Yami has been keeping me busy.**

**Ryou: What do you mean by that?**

**Bakura: Idiot hikari, it means they've been having sex**

**Ryou: *blushing now too* O-Oh…**

**SW: See you later!**


	7. Planning Ahead

**SW: I've got new inspiration for this story!**

**Bakura: Finally!**

**Marik: …**

**Bakura: What's with you?**

**Marik: SoWhatever's idea involves me and Malik-pretty…**

**Bakura: *cackles***

**Ryou: *hits Bakura on top of the head* That's not nice! What if the next idea she has is about us?**

**SW: Oh no, you guys are one of my favorite pairings! I have plenty of ideas about you!**

**Bakura: *pales***

**Enjoy my next chapter! There's a bit of lime in this chapter but other than that nothing.**

**(I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!)**

* * *

Malik takes a deep breath and frowns as the scent of sand and musk reaches his nose. He stiffens when he realizes someone else is in his bed, holding him against their chest. Letting out a scream, he slams his back against the corner where the bed meets the wall, doing his best to ignore the bruises that were aggravated at the movement.

Marik is woken to the sound of a scream and jolts up, thinking Malik was in danger. He starts to call the shadows, their whispers of torment and hate brushing against him eagerly as he looks around the room, his eyes finally landing on Malik.

Malik had relaxed as soon as he realized who it was, but had tensed again as he remembered the events of last night. He watches as Marik calls the shadows, and thinking he was the one Marik was angry at, cowers in the corner, hating that he was showing weakness like this, but damn it, he was scared.

Marik tries to reel in the shadows as best he can, his mind whirling as to the reasons why they weren't responding like they used to. It's all he can do to not let them attack Malik. Once he finally gets them under control, he reaches out to Malik, trying not to notice how he flinches away from his hand again. 'You've changed a lot since the last time I saw you, Malik-pretty' Malik thought as he glances down at his lap to hide the hurt look he figured he was showing, 'I can only imagine what you went through for you to show fear like this.'

Malik notices the hurt look that Marik tries to hide and smiles at his yami. Marik jerks his head around to the sound of a phone ringing and sees the small apologetic smile that had played across Malik's face.

Malik slowly and painfully slides off the cot, his shirt sliding up as he does and he knows Marik can see the new, and old, bruises decorating his back. He ducks his head as he stands up and pulls down on his shirt to cover them back up, not seeing the look of pure rage on Marik's face.

Marik watches as Malik does his best to hide the bruises that he knows are there, not just from that small peek he had gotten, but from the way Malik-pretty was moving. The shadows leap at him again, thinking they could catch him off guard in his rage. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts of the shadows' whispers and stands up to follow Malik after grabbing a shirt from the dresser, discarding his old one on the floor. Maybe he could find a way to give Malik-pretty pleasure to ignore the pain…

Malik walks into the kitchen and picks up the cordless phone, holding it to his ear as he leans against the kitchen table.

"Hello?"

Marik walks in, pulling a new shirt over his head, and Malik gulps at the sight of his toned chest before turning so he could concentrate on the call. "Huh? I-Isis? Is that you? Where have you been?...I've missed you" the last part was a whisper, one that was barely caught by Marik, who looks at Malik in surprise.

Malik sits down at the kitchen table and bends over the phone, elbows on the table. "No. No, Isis…Marik is back." He sits up straighter and cuts off the yelling Marik can hear on the other side. "No! Isis, he has his own body. He's better now, I swear." More yelling comes from the other side of the phone. "I am not just saying that!" His voice drops down to a whisper. "…He helped me with Dad." There is silence on the phone before a short statement is made. "Okay, I'll see you when you get back. Iloveyoutoobye" the last part is rushed before he hangs up the phone and places his head in his arms.

Marik smirks and comes around behind Malik, wrapping his arms around his middle. Malik lifts his head up and smiles at the person holding him. Marik yanks Malik up, and keeping his arms in place, turns Malik around into a smoldering kiss.

Malik's knees weaken and he moans lightly into the kiss, opening his mouth when he felt Marik brush his tongue over his bottom lip. "Why don't we-" Marik sucks on Malik's lip, "-pick up where we left off?"

Malik is panting by now and franticly nods his head as he wraps his arms around Marik's neck, canting up his hips to grind against Marik. Malik bites back the moan that wants to escape from that simple movement, and he does it again, making him see stars. Marik growls lowly and reaches down to unbuckle Malik's pants, throwing them down the floor so he was just in his boxers and a shirt.

**LIME STARTS HERE!**

Marik pushes another kiss on Malik, who responds immediately and opens his mouth for Marik's tongue. The kiss pushes the two to the table, Malik leaning so that he was almost on top of it, Marik hovering over him predatorily. Marik distracts Malik, waging a war with his tongue as his hand drifts down. He reaches inside Malik's boxers and grips onto his member. Malik breaks off the kiss and lets his head fall back with a moan.

"Holy Ra…" Marik twists as he slides up, smirking at his squirming hikari, "…Marik!" Malik's voice goes up an octave as he feels Marik peel apart his foreskin and rub it gently.

Malik is pushed back onto the table, and he arches his back, his hands gripping the edge of the table. "M-Marik…what are-Ah!" Malik's voice goes into a high squeak as Marik twists his erection slightly before sliding down again. The treatment was on the edge of pain, but it felt so good.

Malik barely registers the phone going off again and in his haze of pleasure he doesn't think to let it go to the answering machine. Ignoring the annoyed growl from Marik, Malik picks up the phone. "He-" he clears his throat to get it back to its normal sound "Hello?"

"Hey Malik, it's Yugi"

"Hey, Yugi!" Malik's voice goes up a pitch again as Marik, who had decided that he had had enough of being ignored, drops his boxers and licks at Malik's head.

"Uh…so I just talked with Bakura and Ryou and we are all going to come to my house so we can talk about what happened at school yesterday. Can you make it?"

"I…I, oh Ra, yes!" Marik had placed Malik's legs on separate chairs, spreading them apart. This left Marik more than enough room to play with his hikari and had taken Malik full in his mouth and had begun stroking with his tongue.

There is a pause on the other side of the phone before Malik hears Yami talk, "Hello Malik, mind putting Marik on?"

Marik hears this and speaks around Malik, causing Malik to let out a strangled scream at the vibrations, "Kinda busy, pharaoh."

"That's what I thought. Look, I'm going to tell Yugi that you were just playing a video game, got it?"

"Sure, whatever" Marik bites down lightly at Malik's base, and Malik lets out another scream as his head falls back.

"See you both at noon."

Malik can barely think enough to hang up the phone and place it on the table as Marik starts to suck on him harder. "Ra…Marik!" His voice squeaks one last time as he feels his toes curl in pleasure, and he comes inside Marik's mouth.

**LIME ENDS HERE!**

Marik licks up the leftovers, pretending not to notice a panting Malik staring up at him. Marik stands up and licks at his lips, watching as Malik blushes when he realizes what they had just done. "You, Malik-pretty, are the most gorgeous thing on this planet." Marik pulls Malik in for another kiss, feeling Malik's member becoming hard again. Marik 'tsk's and pulls away, "Now, now, Malik, remember we have to meet your friends at noon, why don't we take care of those bruises?"

"Huh?" Malik is confused before a motion to slide off the table makes him remember exactly what Marik is talking about, "Oh…yea…"

"Yea" Marik smirks and picks up his hikari bridal style, giving him ample opportunity to palm Malik's still naked ass "C'mon"

* * *

Bakura wakes up to the sound of ringing. Looking down to Ryou still fast asleep, he glances around to the source of the sound. Seeing the phone on the table next to the bed, he reaches over, keeping one hand wrapped around Ryou, and picks it up.

"Hello?" he growls into the phone, careful to not be loud enough to wake Ryou up.

He hears a squeak on the other end before Yugi speaks up, "Oh, um, hello Bakura"

"What do you want?"

"Oh! Um, I was wondering if you and Ryou would like to come over and talk about what happened yesterday, Yami says we need to figure out what to do."

"And I should listen to the pharaoh because?" at this point Ryou had woken up and was rubbing his sleep-filled eyes, looking at Bakura confused.

"Uh, well, I guess you don't really have to…"

Ryou figures out what's happening and takes the phone from Bakura to talk to Yugi. "Of course we'll come, when do you want us?"

There's talking on the other line and Bakura sits up, smirking at the blush forming on Ryou's face as he realizes Bakura has no shirt on. "Of course, see you then." Ryou hangs up and reaches over Bakura to put the phone back on the hook, blushing even harder.

Bakura just smirks and grips Ryou's waist, making him fall into Bakura's lap. Bakura buries his head in Ryou's hair, ignoring his reddening face.

"Ba-Bakura? What are-what are you doing?" Ryou squeaks out, trying to ignore how comfortable he felt against Bakura's chest.

"What's it look I'm doing?" Bakura says sarcastically, "I'm taking in the scent of what's mine"

"Yo-Yours?" Ryou chokes out, hoping that this was actually happening.

"Yep."

Ryou jerks up to the sound of ringing, shaking his head and sighing when he realizes it was just a dream, a really elaborate dream. Eyeing the phone evilly, he reaches over a still sleeping Bakura, trying to get the dream out of his head. "Hello?"

"Hi Ryou! I hope I didn't wake you!"

"No, no, of course not." Ryou takes a breath to try and calm the itching in his throat so he wouldn't start coughing.

"Great! Can you guys get over here at like noon-ish to talk about yesterday?"

Ryou looks down to see a still sleeping Bakura and gets off the bed, walking around to hang up, "Yeah sure see you then"

"Bye!"

Ryou hangs up and looks at Bakura, noting how calm and relaxed he looked. He runs his fingers through his hair but stops when he realizes that it was still in a ponytail. Smiling at the thought that Bakura cared enough to do that, he pulls it out and walks downstairs to make breakfast, combing his hair with his fingers.

Bakura walks into the kitchen, following the smell of eggs, toast, and bacon. "What's all this?" he asks gruffly.

Ryou turns and smiles brightly at Bakura, "I wanted to thank you for taking care of me last night, so I decided to make you breakfast."

Bakura scowls, "That's right, you're sick, you shouldn't be up, you should be in bed."

Ryou turns and shrugs his shoulders, "It's only a little cold. And we have to be at-" He breaks into a coughing fit, trying to cover the worst of it from Bakura, who just crosses his arms and frowns at him, "At Yugi's in an hour"

Bakura's scowls deepens, "Well, you aren't going." He reaches out to the table and grabs a piece of bacon, biting into it harshly.

Ryou doesn't turn away from the stove, flipping over an egg. "Yes, I am." The stubbornness in his voice matches the fierceness in Bakura's.

"No. You. Aren't." Bakura glares at Ryou's back, wondering how much had happened since he left to make Ryou grow a backbone.

"Yes. I. Am." Ryou matches Bakura word for word, and turns off the stove when he finishes the egg, carrying his plate to the table, pointedly not looking at Bakura.

"No. And that's final." Bakura sat across from Ryou at the table in front of his plate, making it obvious that he was glaring.

"Since when do you get to decide what I do and don't do?" Ryou asked, his tone even, happy for the reason to not eat his food, instead of just faking one.

"Since...I…" Bakura stutters for a moment, not used to the way Ryou was talking to him.

"The way I see it is this, I go alone and make up some reason as to why you aren't there, or you can come with me." Ryou stated, reassured of himself.

'You've changed a lot since I left, Rabbit' "Fine." Bakura says as he scowls.

"Thank you Bakura!" Ryou smiles brightly and leans over the table to kiss Bakura's cheek, before turning all his attention to his breakfast plate so that Bakura wouldn't see the beet-red blush that was burning up his face.

Little did Ryou know, that a similar blush was slowly fading from Bakura's face as he tried to decipher what that kiss meant. 'Does he like me?...Do I like him? I certainly enjoyed that small kiss…No! Stop it Bakura! You don't show weakness and that's what emotions are! Bottle it up and ignore it! I'm sure this little crush will pass eventually…'

* * *

**SW: Baka Bakura…..I apologize for Yami and Yugi not being in this chapter, but I just couldn't find a way to fit them in.**

**Yami: *crosses arms* Whatever.**

**SW: Aaaanway, the next chapter will hopefully get some action from the villains in my story**

**Yugi: See you next chapter!**


	8. Captured

**SW: I'm baaaaaack!**

**Yami: Where have you been?! You haven't written a chapter in forever! You're going to fall behind on your update schedule!**

**SW: Sheesh, who are you, Kaiba? Anyway, my computer crashed and I have had experienced trouble in Word so…**

**Marik: You just don't want to admit you've lost your motivation**

**SW: That's not true!**

**Read on, my readers! (Yu-Gi-Oh! is not owned by me)**

Everyone had arrived and was sitting around the living room. Malik was sitting sideways on Marik's lap in the armchair and seemed to have a constant blush on his face, but was relaxed. Bakura and Ryou had taken up residence on the couch, and were sitting side by side, Ryou shifting uncomfortable every now and again as Bakura scowled continuously, flipping through the channels on the TV. Yugi and Yami were in the other armchair, and were in a similar position as Malik and Marik, but Yugi was facing forward and Yami had wrapped his arms around Yugi's waist, his head resting in the crook of Yugi's neck.

"So what was the point in coming here?" Bakura says after a few moments of silence.

"Well…Yami told me that the gods said there was a new threat, right?" Yugi asks, "Don't you think that we should talk about that?"

Marik starts to grin crazily, his eyes flickering with black, "I call dibs! I get to hurt them first!" everyone, including Malik, looks at the yami, whose grin doesn't falter.

"S-sure, Mariku, you can have first dibs." Yugi says reluctantly.

Marik fist pumps the air, and shouts, almost throwing Malik off him "Yes!" He pauses for a minute before thinking, "Oh, and I already established this with Malik, but call me Marik, not Mariku"

"You all can call me Yami instead of Atemu"

"If you dare to call me Akefia, I will rip out your tongue while you sleep." Bakura growls out as he glares at the TV, causing Malik and Yugi to blink at him in shock.

Ryou turns and hits the top of Bakura on the top of the head and scolds him, "Bakura, be nice!" Bakura slouches into the couch, grunts, and doesn't break the glaring contest he's having with the TV.

Everyone just stares for a minute, before Marik cracks up laughing. This causes Malik to fall off, who had been expecting something of the sort since the fist pump. Malik pouts and sits on the floor, waiting it out.

"Bakur-" One look at Bakura's face sends Marik straight into laughter again. "Ahaha! Oh gods…Bakura," he starts to snicker again, "getting scolded? And him taking it? Oh man!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Bakura leaps up off the couch and glares down at Marik. Bakura's outburst shocks everyone, and no one but Marik notices the shadows dancing in the corners and in Bakura's eyes.

Marik's shadows respond immediately, his eyes glimmering with crazed glee as both their shadows collide with each other. Marik stands to match Bakura and they meet each other's eyes, one's wide and filled with maniacal joy, the other's narrowed and filled with hatred and anger.

"Bakura. Marik. Your shadows. They are scaring your hikaris." Yami's clipped tone is enough to break the silent war that had started between the two. They look at an annoyed Yami, who has a frightened Yugi griping onto his arm. Both glance down, eyes widening at the different sites they see.

Shadows had crept to surround Malik, and he was sitting up with his back to the living room table, arms wrapped around his legs, griping them close to his body. The shadows were darting around Malik and licking at his skin and he was doing his best not to whimper or flinch, knowing he was supposed to be the strong for his friends. The shadows hadn't done any real harm, but the ferocity with which they touched Malik tells him that the pain couldn't be far off. He keeps his gaze down, thinking that meeting Marik's eyes would mean that he would get angrier. He isn't entirely sure what he had done wrong to be punished, but he is sure he will find out eventually. It always happens that way, pain first, explanation later. 'I just…I just that maybe…maybe Marik would be different…I-I guess not…'

Ryou is griping the edge of the couch, taking short, quick breaths with his eyes closed. The shadow had surrounded him as well, but they were reacting differently to him than they were to Malik. They had completely encased him, cutting him off from his friends, and he is visible only to those with shadow magic, and even then they could only see him as if through a film. The shadows had kept their distance and had yet to touch him, their unintelligible whispers brushing across his ears. Unlike Malik, Ryou hadn't held back on the whimpers, and it looks as if he is about to start crying any minute. When he finally opens his eyes, they keep flicking back and forth to try and see anything but black. Anyone could see the panic in his tense form and frantic eyes.

Bakura lets out a stream of swears in Egyptian and pulls back on the shadows, frowning when some of them don't respond. Seeing Marik having similar trouble in controlling his shadows, Bakura scowls and yanks on the shadows, watching as they reluctantly fade away. Marik stomps his foot like a child and glares at his shadows, wondering why they aren't responding. He doesn't want them to hurt Malik! His crazed expression goes hard and he puts all his force into pulling back on the shadows, grinning again when they finally listen.

Almost immediately after they had gained control of their shadows, the doorbell in front of the shop goes off.

"I've got it." Yugi stands up and flees from the room, a slight limp to his walk.

Ryou eyes Bakura before hastily standing up "I-I think I'll go too", and he follows Yugi downstairs. Bakura just stares after him before letting out another stream of swearing and falls back onto the couch.

There is a moment of silence as everyone still in the room takes in what happened, Malik not looking up from his position to see all the yami's reactions. It isn't long before Marik speaks up, a devilish grin sliding across his features "So…what was that limp about, Yami?"

Yami just smirks and shrugs, not saying a word.

"Yami!" Malik jerks his head up, not moving from the ground and keeping a safe distance from Marik, even though he knew it was probably silly. "You didn't, did you?"

"I don't know, you'll have to ask aibou" Yami's smirk never faded.

"Oh man…" Malik looks up to the ceiling as if asking for deliverance, "Who would've thought of the three of us, Yugi would be the first to lose his virginity?"

"You're a virgin?" Marik asks slyly, and watches as a blush grows on Malik's face, his eyes not moving from the ceiling.

"Oh…um, well…you see-" Malik's explanation is cut off by a blood-curling scream, which sends Yami running down the stairs in a panic.

"Yugi?!" he yells, only to be answered by another scream, this one more frantic, and Yami knows who had made it as Bakura comes barreling down after him, "Ryou!"

Both reach the front of the game shop at the same time. They rush to the door, opening it and scrambling to get outside. The sight that meets them makes them both go pale, before Bakura's eyes flash and the shadows come roaring back and Yami stiffens, a glare set on his face.

Yugi is out cold, and Sheut was holding his limp body to him with one arm, it loosely wrapped around Yugi's shoulders. His dull gray eyes sweep over the two yamis, cold and calculating. "Hello, I don't believe we have properly met, my name is Sheut and judging by your appearance, you are these two's yamis." A small smile spreads across his face as he reaches up with his open hand to stroke at Yugi's pale cheek, watching Yami's reaction. "It's such a pity that you were his first in bed, but I can assure that you won't be his last."

"Damn it! Let him go!" Yami takes a step forward, but not before a cage of shadows surrounds him and Bakura.

"Uh uh uh…we wouldn't want you spoiling our fun, now would we?" The second man steps forward, carrying an unconscious Ryou bridal style. He smirks and lowers his eyelids in what might have been a sultry way, "My name is Eboni, by the way…" he trails off and leans down, pressing a small kiss on Ryou's forehead, his eyes flicking up to stare at Bakura.

"Ryou!" Bakura leaps forward, not caring that the cage lashed out as his skin, lapping up blood wherever it struck. "You better fucking let me out, motherfucker! Or so help me Ra I will tear you limb from fucking limb!" His eyes fill almost completely with black, just the tiniest of red-brown shining through.

"Tsk, tsk" Eboni scolds Bakura in an obviously fake voice, "What would Ryou think if he heard you talk in such language?" Eboni holds Ryou closer to himself, earning a growl from Bakura, "You know…I don't think you're worthy of such beauty, I think that such innocence and purity should belong to someone strong, someone who can properly protect him, don't you? And trust me, I am _much _stronger than _you_. I mean, you're barely in control of your own shadows!" He says with a glint in his eyes, as if he knows something no one else does.

Malik and Marik then appear, walking out the door after hearing a commotion, "Hey guys, what's wrong wi-" Malik's voice fades off as he stares at the two men in front of Yami and Bakura, and he gasps in recognition and fright.

Marik wraps an arm around Malik's waist, ignoring the flinch to be closer to Malik. "You know them?"

"Yeah…" Malik's eyes lock on Sheut's and his voice comes out distant, "They were the ones that…attacked us…"

"Now, now, Malik, I wouldn't say attack, we just…started off on the wrong foot. We realize now that what we were doing was wrong, and that we shouldn't banish your souls to the darkness." Eboni says, smirking at the dazed look that Malik had gained.

Malik never breaks eye contact with Sheut, even as Marik takes his hand to try and draw him away, "…wrong foot…"

Marik steps in front of Malik, noticing how Malik is craning his head to keep eye contact. He attempts to talk to Malik through the mind link, but a wall had been placed up, and no amount of pushing would remove it.

Sheut gains a small smile, "You cannot contact your hikaris. I have blocked your connections. It wouldn't be fair if you could communicate to them without our knowing, right?"

"…not fair…" The small whisper that Malik made causes Marik to turn around and grab one of his shoulders and his chin, forcing Malik to look him in the eye. "Malik-pretty. I want you to wake up. Hear me? Snap out of it!"

Malik blinks for a minute, his now clear violet eyes taking in Marik's, seeing how that black crossed into occasionally. "Marik? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Marik pulls Malik into a hug, hearing a squeak from the younger.

"As much as we'd love to stay and chat, we have to go." Eboni interrupts, glancing sideways at a frowning Sheut. "I'm sure you'll hear from us soon." And with that both of them disappear, and take the cage, Yugi, and Ryou with them.

Yami collapses on his knees, staring at the ground in front of him, while Bakura allows rage to take him over. The last time he had let himself go like this was right after Kul Elna, when he had sworn revenge on the pharaoh after burning down the village. Shadows constantly danced at his fingertips as he turns to Yami and Marik. "C'mon. We're going." He talks in a calm and controlled voice, and though the rage isn't present in it, you can see it in his burning black eyes.

This Bakura was one Malik had never seen, and damn is it creepy. "Where are we going?"

"To their castle. Where else? It's in the woods somewhere." Bakura turns and disappears in a cloud of black. Yami slowly stands up, and feels a rage similar to Bakura's start to take over, and as if something inside him had been broken, his own shadows roar out of the shadow realm. Marik laughs at seeing the two completely surrounded by shadows and allows his own to run free, and the exposure to the shadows and the anger that comes with it drives him close to insanity. He doesn't notice how Malik jumps away and scrambles backwards.

"Wh-what's happening? What's wrong? Marik?" Malik speaks out, his voice steady, but only because he was intentionally listening to it to make sure he didn't sound scared.

"You stay here Malik-pretty. Marik will be back soon. Promise."

Scared that Marik had started to talk in third person, Malik just nods numbly and steps back to watch Yami get swallowed by the shadows as well. Marik walks up, completely ignoring the scared look Malik has, and pulls Malik into a harsh kiss, not caring that Malik was looking at him with wide eyes and was breathing through his nose heavily. "Marik promises not to get killed. Will Malik-pretty promise to stay where it is safe?" Marik says as he traces kisses down Malik's neck, sucking hard enough to give a small hickey.

"Ye-yeah. I'll stay." Malik had just gotten over his fright and had leaned into Marik's mouth, when Marik stands up with a smirk.

"Good. Marik'll be back, Malik-pretty." With that, he fades into his shadows, completely gone in a few seconds.

Malik holds his neck and stands outside the shop, staring at where the three yamis had been a few seconds ago. "What the hell?"

**SW: Okay, it there, mostly because I'm trying to figure out how to fit the next scene I want in into the story**

**Ryou and Yugi: We don't like the scene…**

**Yami and Bakura: Why?**

***tells them***

**SW: Holy crap! *running from enraged yamis with Malik and Marik laughing the background* Help! AH! I fear for my life!**

**Ryou and Yugi: Please read and review and we will try to convince them to let SoWhatever live!...of course we will do that anyway, but it's still nice if you review!**


	9. Desicions on Rescue

**SW: Chapter 9!**

**Malik: Good job. Though I hate how I'm conveyed in this, I'm not scared THAT often.**

**SW: You're a hikari. You have to be hikari-ish.**

**Malik: Hikari-ish? Is that even a word?! Make me nice sometimes then! Don't make me a scaredy cat**

**Ryou: While those two fight, SoWhatever wanted to thank Millenium-Memories for reviewing! She got so happy when she saw that you liked her story!**

**Yami: *smirk* She liked the part where me and Yugi have sex.**

**Yugi: *blushing* YAMI!**

**Yami: What? You like it too.**

**Yugi: So-SoWhatever doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Have fun reading! *sprints out of room***

Not long after the sky had grown dark, Bakura storms into the house and shocks Malik from sitting on the couch into standing up. "Did you find them? What happened?" Malik's questions make Bakura worse and he glares at Malik before stomping into the kitchen, where he slams down at the table. Yami follows soon after, walking more calmly than Bakura, but his stiff form shows his true emotion, and sits next to Bakura. Malik can get his answers just by watching the two's barely contained anger. Marik walks in after them, a crazy smile still on his face and stands next to Malik, who was leaning against the door.

"Guys? Um…"

"What is it, hikari-pretty?" Marik buries his head in Malik's shoulder, licking at it lightly, "Marik is sorry he couldn't find hikari-pretty's friends."

"That-That's alright." Malik takes a deep breath and tries to calm down, knowing that this isn't really Marik, that something happened to make him act like this. "But…um, something came while you guys were gone. It's, well, it's a cd, and it was addressed to you two." He looks at the yamis sitting at the table, doing his best to ignore the licking that is going up and down his neck.

Yami looks up with a calm expression, "Really? Let's watch it then."

Malik slowly nods and turns into the living room, racing out of Marik's arms to push in the cd. He takes a seat on the couch and makes sure that when Marik sits down next to him there is enough room in between.

Yami and Bakura sit on the armchairs and Yami presses play from the remote.

_Hello friends. It's nice to see that you are trying, it was amusing for us to watch you attempt to find us, you even got close a few times, but alas, now is not the time for that. Oh no, we had to have our fun with your hikaris first. _Eboni's voice drifts into the room, though the screen is still black. _They are still fighting, which surprises the both of us, normally it only takes an hour for one of us to break someone, yet they prevail. It will be interesting to see what finally breaks them._

Bakura lets out a very animalistic growl and Yami's hands tighten on the shoulders of the chair as the screen suddenly goes from black to showing a white room with blue carpeting, a large king-size bed with white sheets in the middle. But it isn't the room that makes them mad, it's whois in it.

Yugi and Ryou lay with their arms chained above their head, blood dripping down their arms from their wrists. Yugi is on the right and Ryou is on the left. Yugi had turned sideways, towards Ryou with his back facing the wall, and is curled into a ball, well, as much of a ball as you can get with your arms above your head. Ryou just lays there, limp, and has his eyes squeezed shut.

_You wouldn't imagine the amount of damage we've done in these few short hours. And what fun it's been! We split it, of course. I took Ryou and Sheut took Yugi. In fact, why don't we show you one of our sessions now? Since I'm the one holding the camera, Sheut will go first._

The camera turns to show Sheut walking through the door. Yugi is heard whimpering as Sheut walks closer to the bed and the camera follows him. Yugi moves from his position in a ball and pushes up against the headboard, trying to get as far away as possible. Ryou doesn't move a muscle, except for a wince when he feels Yugi move away in fear. Yami growls, which is an uncommon sound coming from him, and Malik knows that Yami is near his breaking point.

Sheut brings his hand up and the camera flickers for a moment before you can see the shadows gathering around his hand. He places his hand on Yugi's arm and the effect is immediate.

Yugi pulls away, screaming bloody murder and letting tears fall down his face. The video captures the sound of sizzling skin and smoke is seen coming off of Yugi's arm. The shadows surround Yugi's entire arm, and he continues to thrash about, the chains making it impossible to move away. Yugi collapses in a sweaty, sobbing mess when Sheut removes his hand, however, there is no damage to the now heavily panting Yugi. His arm is completely bare of any kind of damage, though he is cradling it like it had been hurt.

Yami grinds his teeth together and fists his hands. Bakura never takes his eyes of Ryou, noting the subtle changes that he now shows. Malik is hiding behind his hands and is peeking through his fingers, trying not to cry at the sight of his friends. He unconsciously scoots closer to Marik and presses his thumbs against his ears to block out the screaming. Marik watches with indifference, but smiles crazily as he drapes an arm around Malik's shoulder.

_What Sheut did just then is a form of shadow torture, it creates a sort of illusion of pain, without actually causing harm. Trust me, the pain is real, as in this case, you will literally see and feel your skin burning, however, it isn't actually happening. That isn't all he knows how to do, in fact, let's show you something else._

Sheut nods to the camera and reaches over the now curled Yugi and pries apart his arms and legs so he is lying on his back on the bed. Yugi squirms and kicks out as Sheut grabs his legs, chaining them to the bed like his arms.

_No! Please stop! Please! _Yami's entire body jerks as Yugi screams and he feels a sense of helplessness wash over him. Once Sheut finally gets both legs chained, he places one head on Yugi's chest and the other on his forehead. Yugi goes limp, his steady breathing showing that he is unconscious. Sheut transfers the shadows that had gathered on his hands onto Yugi and they disappear into his body. He steps away and walks away, behind the camera.

It isn't long before Yugi starts whimpering, his eyes glued shut. He squirms around in the bed, but it doesn't look like he's trying to get away, just like he is uncomfortable. That's when the screaming starts. Ryou lets out a sob at the first one and looks away, not even attempting to try and wake Yugi up.

_Yami! Help! Let me go! NO! _The screams continue on like this and Yugi kicks, trying to fight off an invisible enemy, but the chains prevent his legs from going too far, and isn't long before his legs are covered in blood like his arms. Yami glares at the screen and gripes onto the couch, wishing there was something he could do help his hikari. Yugi lets out one final high-pitched scream before collapsing onto the bed, panting and never opening his eyes.

_What just happened is something that you should be very familiar with, Yami. Sheut invaded Yugi's unconscious mind and let the shadows portray to him his worst fears. He most likely won't wake up for a while. Sheut will take over the camera now._

Yami grinds his teeth together and takes deep breaths through his nose, his eyes never leaving the screen. There is some shuffling before Eboni comes onto the screen. He waves hello before turning to walk over to Ryou's side of the bed.

_Hello. As you can probably see, each hikari has been through quite an ordeal, though in different ways. I am much better at mental torture, while Eboni does a combination. Eboni will take Ryou now. _Sheut's voice drifts out, distant and disinterested, like he hadn't just tortured someone.

Eboni reaches Ryou and starts to pet at Ryou's hair, earning a scowl from Bakura. The camera flickers again and this time it shows Eboni completely surrounded by shadows. Ryou looks up and recognition flickers in his eyes at Eboni, but strangely, there is no fear, only happiness. _Ba-Bakura? Is that you?_

Bakura sits up in shock and disbelief to watch, as Eboni turns and smirks into the camera before looking back down at Ryou.

_Of course it is. Are you alright?_ Though the video shows Eboni as himself, it is not his voice, but Bakura's, that comes out of his mouth.

_Thank god…I was so scared. Can you get me out? _Ryou jangles the chains lightly, his now hope-filled eyes never leaving Eboni.

_Now why would I want to do that? _Eboni pets Ryou's hair again, but this time grips and yanks his head up. _I think I like you like this._

Ryou winces in pain as his head is pulled up and he looks at Eboni in shock. _What? Stop Bakura! You're hurting me! _

Eboni just smirks and tugs harder, before pulling out a knife from the back off his pants. _That's the point. You wanna know something? _Eboni traces the knife up Ryou's leg, just barely drawing blood. _I let you get taken, because you know what? They promised me I'd be able to do this._

Ryou gasps and squirms trying to get out from under the knife. _I don't believe you! Bakura! Stop! _Ryou starts to sob, the tears pouring down his face. _Why are you doing this? _

Eboni brings the knife up higher and slices at Ryou's arms. _Isn't is obvious? I hate you. Always have, always will. You're such a nuisance to me, you're so weak, and you're always whining. I've decided I want to end that._

Ryou looks up in shock. _Please...Bakura…no… _He ignores the new wounds to watch the every movement of the knife in Eboni's hand.

Eboni gains a wicked smile. _Bakura_ _yes._

The video is cut to black and a voice over of Sheut's voice comes on. _What Eboni just did is a simple copycat illusion, he copied what Bakura looked like and sounded like, and Ryou fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. He's still blubbering now as it is. How does that make you feel, Bakura? To know that your hikari doesn't trust you enough to break through a simple illusion?_

The voice switches to Eboni, _So how about you come tomorrow? We'll guide you, don't worry. We can play a game and give you a chance to win back your hikaris, if they still want to return to you that is. Oh, and be sure to bring _everyone, _we wouldn't want anyone to feel left out now would we? If you don't, there might be some…tragic consequences. Can't wait to see you all!_ With that energetic statement the video ends and the cd pops out of the player.

"Fuck." Bakura sums up what all of them are feeling. "Shit. Fuck. Damn it all to the afterlife."

"What are we going to do?" Malik asks, finally bringing his hands down from his face, but not moving away from Marik.

"We're going to go, what else?" Yami says, standing up, "So get some rest, we are leaving first thing."

"We're just going to listen to them? Let them lead us into something that might be a trap?"

"What else can we do, hikari-pretty? Marik spent all day looking for the castle and no one could find it."

"It most likely is a trap. But that doesn't matter, we have to get them back." Bakura spits out, making no move to stand up. "I call the couch."

"I'm not letting Yugi go through that any longer than he has to." Yami says, "And if I have to sacrifice my dignity to follow along with their plan so be it."

"Malik-pretty isn't going, period." Marik states, as they stand up for Bakura to move where they had been sitting.

"Wrong. Those are my two best friends, and they are in trouble. I. Am. Going. Besides, they said we all had to go, so it doesn't matter what you think."

Marik pulls Malik into a heated kiss, forcing his tongue into Malik's mouth when he gasps. He squirms a way when Marik finally breaks it, "Malik-pretty is so pretty when he is mad."

"I'm going." Malik tries to stay on topic and ignore the tingling he was feeling on his lips.

"That means we share the floor hikari-pretty." Marik smiles and changes the subject again, while Malik stares back at him, watching the dancing shadows that are now constantly there.

"No." Marik frowns in confusion, "You are sleeping over there," Malik points to the side of the room with Bakura on it, "and I am sleeping over there," he points to the other side of the room, "and there will be no moving closer during the night"

Marik frowns and gives Malik a demented version of the 'puppy dog eyes' that sends shivers down Bakura's spine and just makes Malik look at him weird, "Malik-pretty is unhappy with Marik?"

"No! I mean, yes! Damn it! No, I'm not mad at you Marik, I just don't want to sleep with you okay?"

"Shut up and go to sleep!" Bakura yells from the couch, while he punches the pillow to "fluff" it. He falls onto it with his face turned to the back of the couch.

Malik blinks before walking over to his side, turning and pointing to the other side of the room when Marik tries to follow. Marik pouts and walks away, turning off the light when he does. Malik grabs the blanket that had been resting on the back of the armchair and curled on the floor, facing the floor. It isn't long before he hears the deep breaths of the other occupants of the room. "Night." He whispers to the dark room before he does his best to sleep.

**SW: I really didn't enjoy writing this chapter, sorry if sucked…I'm so down I don't want even Ryou or Yugi into my author notes…read and review please?**


	10. Game Time

**SW: Okay so I think I'm getting close to the end, though I don't know how many chapters I'll have left.**

**Bakura: I better get Ryou back this chapter**

**SW: ….**

**Ryou: SoWhatever? We are getting rescued this chapter, right?**

**Enjoy reading!**

Malik holds his arms around himself as he walks through the woods, glancing to the sides to watch for anything that might jump out at him. Yami and Bakura become even more irritable as they get deeper into the woods, while Marik seems to act crazier, if that is at all possible. All three of their shadows have become almost uncontrollable, and Malik wonders if the only reason they aren't attacking him is because he is making sure to walk close to Marik, much to his annoyance. Marik is smiling creepily and keeps petting at Malik's hair, and it bugs the hell out of him to know that Marik isn't sane enough to put feeling behind that motion.

After following the obvious signs for a few hours, Eboni and Sheut had decided to carve large arrows into trees to show the way, the group of four reaches a large fortress. It has a huge wall surrounding it, and the only apparent way in seems to be a huge gate that had been left wide open.

Yami and Bakura walk forward first, Marik and Malik following after them. Malik takes in the huge size as they walk up to the front door, not noticing that the shadows were whipping out with even more ferocity, so that even Marik is frowning in concentration to keep them under control.

The door swings open and as soon as they step through the door, it slams shut and a shadow cage drops down on them.

"Told you." Malik mumbles to himself as footsteps echo on the grand staircase in front of them.

"Welcome! So glad you could make it!" Eboni announces as he steps down the stairs to meet them at the floor. He claps his hands in front of him, and smiles like he doesn't have four men glaring at him. "I hope we'll be able to have some fun together!"

"Shut up and give me back Ryou!"

Eboni wagged his finger at the raging albino. "No, no, we can't do that yet."

"We came here, at least let us see them." Yami says calmly, ignoring the sputtering Bakura next to him.

Eboni puts his finger on his chin to look like he is pondering and gives a slight nod, "I guess we can arrange that."

Eboni snaps his fingers and Sheut appears holding a bound Yugi and an unbound Ryou, both bloody. Sheut ungraciously flings them in front of the cage and Yugi immediately twists his body so that he is on his knees facing the cage, arms tied with rope behind him. Ryou just falls on his knees, holding up his body with his hands, keeping his head down and his face hidden by his hair.

"Yami!" Yugi screams and struggles against his bonds, new blood dripping down as he stands up and walks closer to the cage. Tears begin to prick in his eyes and he stares at his other half that is griping the bars, ignoring the blood that came from touching the shadows. "I knew you would come."

"Yugi…" Yami reaches out through the bars and brushes his hand against Yugi's cheek and rubs his thumb against the bone there, watching as Yugi sighs and leans his head into the touch.

Yugi closes his eyes and Yami's eyes wander to take in Yugi's wounds. Deep, and most likely infected, gashes on his wrists from the rope and chains. Purple bruises surround his throat which shows that someone had made an attempt to kill on his aibou. Black bags underneath his eyes accounted to a sleepless night filled with shadow nightmares. With each new found offence, Yami feels his anger grow and not even he could hide it in his eyes as he examines his hikari.

Ryou, however, is another story. Bakura crouches at the edge of cage to be at eye level with Ryou and stares at the defeated form of his hikari. "Ryou?" He takes in the open cuts on Ryou's wrists, and the bloodied state of Ryou's pants and shirt, tears running from ankle to hip and from elbow to shoulder.

Ryou fists his hands and starts to shake. Bakura stares in shock as the ground beneath Ryou shows new wetness. Ryou leans back on his heels, resting his fists on his lap, and keeps his head ducked as the tears fall from his cheeks to his hands.

"Ryou. Answer me. Are you alright?" Bakura asks gruffly, hating to show that he actually cared for someone.

Ryou sucks in deep breath and finally looks at Bakura, staring at him with bloodshot and tear-filled eyes, a purple bruise forming on his cheek. "Why would you care?" The small whisper sounds broken, hurt, and scared.

Bakura sits back, speechless for a moment, and Ryou gives a bitter smile, "Exactly. You've already told me how you really fe-feel," Ryou's voice quivers at the end and he clenches his teeth to stop his lip from quivering, "so I don't know why you here. And frankly, I don't care."

"Ryou…" Bakura chokes out in disbelief as Ryou hangs his head again, unable to hold back a cough that shakes his entire body. Bakura feels a jolt of alarm when Ryou puts down the hand he had used to cover his mouth, the back of it covered in blood.

"Well!" Eboni claps his hands and moves forward to grip Yugi's arm, pulling him from Yami, ignoring his kicking and screaming. "I think that's enough of the reunions." His voice becomes cold at the end as he throws Yugi to the ground behind him, who lands with a thud and a grunt, but doesn't cry out because he is used to the treatment.

Sheut walks forward and places his hand on Ryou's shoulder, "Come along, Ryou." Ryou stands slowly and doesn't look up at the enraged and shocked look Bakura has, before walking over to where Yugi was lying and sat down next to him.

"So!" Eboni's energy never fades and he walks to stand in front of the cage. "We're going to play a game!"

"Why would we want to do anything with you?" Bakura spits out.

"But we don't have all the prizes yet!" Eboni continues as though he hadn't been interrupted and snaps his fingers, smiling at the yell that follows.

Malik stares as his body slowly disappears, reaching out to grip onto Marik's arm, but gasps and holds his hand up when it passes right through him. There is a moment where all he could think, feel, see, and hear was darkness before his vision clears and he is sitting next to an unresponsive Ryou and a struggling Yugi. He looks down and sees that he too is now bound. Pulling lightly against the rope, he gasps when he feels small needles dig into his skin. He finds out the hard way how Yugi and Ryou had gotten so bloody around their wrists.

"Malik-pretty!" Marik has a sudden surge of panic when Malik disappears, and that panic only rises when he sees where Malik reappears.

"Marik!" Malik struggles again, biting his cheek against the scream that would have come out when he feels the needles dig in again. He watches as blood starts to trickle down his wrists and he wonders how long it'll take until his wrists are like Ryou's and Yugi's.

"Marik wants Malik-pretty back!" Marik turns to yell at Eboni, his shadows crashing against the ones that made up the cage.

"I don't think you're in any position to make demands." Eboni smirks and looks over all three yamis. "I believe my spell has worked perfectly."

That makes even Marik stop, confused, "What?"

"When we first met your hikaris, we placed a transfer spell on you. It's simple, place a spell on one person, but have that spell meant for someone with a different shadow signature. The next time the person with the transfer spell sees the person the spell was meant for, the spell takes effect."

"We know what a damn transfer spell is! Now what was the spell!" Bakura yells at the same time Yami shouts "Those spells are forbidden by the gods!"

Eboni rolls his eyes, "I'm getting there. The spell itself is also simple, it unlocked the barriers you had placed between yourself and your shadows, some took a little longer, like Yami here, and other immediately, such as Marik."

"Wha-What?" Malik asks shakily, "_I'm _the reason Marik has been acting weird?"

"Of course, there are always different responses to overexposure to the shadows. In Marik's case, he went a little crazy." Eboni continues, his smirk never fading. "But eventually the result is always the same, the one the spell is cast on is devoured by the very shadows he controls. And as for the gods…who gives a shit what they do and do not approve? When our plan is complete there will only be one god left, and that is-"

Eboni is cut off by Sheut's hand on his mouth, before he nods, pushes Sheut's hand down, and glances back to the yamis, "Never mind!"

"What do you mean never mind? Do you have a god on your side?" Yami asks, his eyes never leaving Yugi.

Eboni ignores the question and starts to talk again, clapping his hands together while looking at Sheut. "Rule Time! Pay attention boys, cause if you mess up you will never be able to see your hikaris again." Eboni then disappears, taking the three hikaris with him, leaving Sheut behind.

Sheut stares at the furious men trapped in the cage with an indifferent expression before stating, "You will have until the sun rises to complete your task. The sun is currently going down now, so you will have roughly 12 hours. You must find your hikari and convince them to leave with you before time is up. If you should succeed, you and the hikaris will be released, all of your curses will be lifted, and you will be allowed to face us in a battle." He pauses, waiting for questions.

"What if Marik loses?" Marik has no doubt that he will find his hikari-pretty, but in any game you play you must know the consequences.

"Should any of you lose, you will all be punished. The curses making your shadows rebel against you will be accelerated, causing you to be devoured by them. The hikaris each have their own curses placed on them now, and if, by dawn, you have not won, than those curses will take effect."

"Why should Ryou be punished if he hasn't done anything wrong?" Bakura snaps, standing up to prepare for the start. Sheut does not answer but stares back with a vacant look.

There is a long pause before Yami speaks up, "Very well. Game, Start."

With those words, Sheut flicks his wrist and the shadow cage vanishes along with him. The rules had been stated, the time limit was ticking away, and the prize and the punishment has been set, the game had begun.

**SW: Okay, so I know this is one of my shorter chapters, but I wanted the searches and if they were reunited or not to be their own chapters, so…**

**Ryou: Why weren't we rescued yet?**

**SW: If you hadn't noticed, Ryou, you're kinda mad at Bakura, so no. you won't be rescued, in fact, I think your chapter will be last.**

**Bakura: Baka writer**

**SW: Shut up! You're so mean Bakura.**

**Bakura: Whatever, SoWhatever wants me to ask you to review…the only reason I'm doing this is because I want the lemon between me and Ryou. We are the only ones who haven't had one yet!**

**SW: Marik and Malik didn't…**

**Bakura: They had a lime, I have nothing!**

**Ryou: Keep yelling and you never get anything**

**SW: Burn!**


	11. Yami and Yugi

**SW: Whoo! Chapter 11!**

**Bakura: Whoop-di-fuckin'-do.**

**SW: Meanie**

**Ryou: *sigh* Try living with him**

**Bakura: Hey!**

**SW: *listens to argument in background before getting bored* Anywho…if you didn't read my author's note at the bottom of the last chapter, then I should tell you that each of the yami's searches are going to be separate chapters! And this chapter will be...Yami and Yugi! (mostly because they are the easiest to write) It'll be switching A LOT from Yugi to Yami and back, so each line beak is a switch between the two.**

**Hope you like!**

* * *

Each of the yamis race up the stairs the minute the cage disappears, seeing it as the only way to get somewhere, the only door in the room being the locked front entrance. They stop at the top, staring at three hallways in front of them.

_Choose wisely boys, for you may only choose one hallway each, and though they cross paths with each other, there is only one way that is the quickest for finding your hikari. _Eboni's voice drifts through the air, and Bakura glares and snorts before running down the hallway to the far right. "I'll see you later, I've got places to be!"

Yami sighs and shakes his head before turning to Marik, only to see him half running, half skipping down the hallway to the far left. "Bye Yami!~" He croons out "Marik is going to find Malik-pretty!"

Yami scowls and turns towards the middle. "Guess that leaves this one for me…I'm coming Yugi."

* * *

Yugi jolts up, crying out in shock to see that he is in a completely black room. At least, he hopes it's a room. It is so dark that he can't even see the walls, the door, if there is one at all, or the bedposts. The only reason he knows it's a bed, is because he can feel the sheets and mattress underneath him.

He bites his lip and looks around, trying to see anything, scared at remembering how much this is like the nightmares. "He-Hello? Yami?" he whispers into the dark and crawls to the edge of the bed, feeling around with his hands and hoping to get an answer.

The answer he gets isn't anything he was hoping for though. A large snarl sounds off next to his ear and Yugi lets out a large scream before scrambling back to the middle of the bed, making up his mind to stay away from the edge from now on.

A short sob rips from his mouth before he clamps down on it. 'This isn't what Yami would act like! He would step forward to battle whatever that thing was and find his way in the shadows to the door!...but…maybe I'll stay for just a few more minutes.'

As soon as he thinks that though, the room is filled with snarls, howls, grunts, and hisses, coming from all directions. He looks around franticly, and starts to hyperventilate. He realizes that he isn't sitting on a bed anymore, but cold, hard cement, and he wonders when that had changed.

Suddenly, there isn't a floor at all. The ground caves out from underneath Yugi and even as he screams his heart out he can hear the animalistic sounds fade away above him. He kicks and windmills his arms, trying to find anything to grip on, that could stop the fall that he knows will only end in disaster. He lets out another scream, not caring about the high-pitched noise coming out of his mouth.

He finally lands on ground, but the impact is so great that his entire body collapses in on itself and Yugi lies limp on the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Yami walks down the seemingly never-ending white hallway, hands in his pockets. He is anything but relaxed though. He can't contact Yugi through the link and he hasn't passed a single door yet. Yami had long since stopped keeping track of the twists and turns he made, and started as seeing it not as hallways but as a giant labyrinth.

Then, finally, at the end of the hallway is a single white, wooden door, and on it was a millennium eye painted in brown. Yami runs up to the door and grips the handle, about to fling open the door when he is forcibly thrown backwards. He lands on his back about five feet from the door, and groans as pain shoots up the points where his body hit the ground.

_Oooh, so close, but that isn't Yugi's door…better luck next time!_

Yami growls and swears under his breath, standing up slowly before turning around and walking in another direction, blindly making turns in his rage. When he finally slows down, he glances around and realizes that he has completely lost all sense of direction. The white hallway, ceiling, and floor were disorientating enough, but to not know which way he was facing or what direction he had come from was overwhelming. He sits down to get his bearings and starts to think of the door. If it wasn't Yugi's, then whose was it? Ryou's? Or Malik's? Suddenly an image of the millennium eye pops up in his mind, the only speck of color he had seen in this damn maze. 'Maybe that has something to do with it…"

He thinks for only a few moments longer before his characteristic smirk spreads across his face. 'Duh…' Yami has the urge to smack his forehead when the obvious answer comes to his head. He couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to him sooner. 'It was brown because Ryou's eyes are brown, which means I have to look for the door with the amethyst eye on it.'

He stands, and starts to walk forward when he reaches his first fork, and has to decide whether to take left or right. He scowls when he hears footsteps approaching at a fast rate and turns to face the hallway where they are coming from. The profuse swearing is enough of a hint that Yami can guess who it is before he even sees the white hair appear around the corner of the hallway on the left.

Yami stares at a steaming Bakura, his arms slick with blood from several cuts that are scattered there. Bakura stops when he sees the fork, with Yami standing in the middle of one of the hallways.

He sneers, completely ignoring the obviously painful wounds. "Haven't found your hikari yet, Pharaoh?"

Yami looks at Bakura with a bored expression "You don't seem to be having much luck either."

He glances down to Bakura's arms.

Bakura shrugs, "Malik's door is down this hallway."

Yami nods and points behind himself, "Ryou is down this one."

Bakura smirks a thanks before walking around Yami, leaving him alone in the fork. 'So that means Yugi is in the hallway to the right.'

* * *

Yugi whimpers as he wakes up, feeling cold ground underneath him. Surprisingly, he isn't that hurt, though each movement hurts like crazy. There is a long, lone howl before Yugi sees a flicker of silver in the never-ending darkness.

Yugi gulps, knowing that something is close, and that that something could be dangerous. He stands slowly, biting his lip against the pain coursing through his body. However, as soon as he stands, he is met by a growl, followed by a large body tackling him back to the ground, burying its teeth into Yugi's shoulder.

Yugi lets out a scream and squirms under the creature, its slobber dripping onto Yugi's face as its fangs dig deeper in his shoulder. Yugi screams again and brings his other arm up, hitting the animal on its head. It lets go of Yugi with snort, before staring down at the shaking hikari. Yugi blinks his eyes against the blackness crowding there and tries to get a better glimpse of what attacked him.

"Si-Silver Fang?"

The duel monster opens its mouth to bite again, aiming for the chest, but stops itself when a large roar erupts from behind Yugi. The sound sends Silver Fang scampering off in fright, tail between its legs.

"Bu-But you're my card…" Yugi whispers, trying to think through the fog clouding his mind from the pain. "…why would…why would you attack me?"

Yugi grips his arm, wincing at the smell and feel of wet blood, not even chancing a look behind him. "…And what could have…have made you run off like that?"

Unnoticed by Yugi, two blood-red eyes stare at his back in the darkness.

* * *

Yami jogs down the hallway and keeps alert for the door he was sure would lead to Yugi. He has no way of telling how much time had passed, or how much time he had left, all Yami knows is that he is close.

Suddenly, he finds no floor in front of him, only shadow-tipped spikes. Yami windmills his arms in a very un-Pharaoh-like manner, before falling backwards to keep himself from going forward into the pit.

_Did you think we would make it easy for you? Oh no, these traps are very special, and luckily for you, they only activate when the yami is in the correct hallway._

Yami glares from his position on the floor, before rising and walking back a few paces to stare at the now triggered trap.

_Giving up already?_

Yami smirks and launches himself forward, sprinting to the edge of the pit before leaping to cross it. He lands on the other side with an inch to spare and drops into a roll to keep his balance. His smirk widens at the silence that follows the jump and picks himself up to continue walking, keeping a close eye out for any traps.

After another pit and avoiding flying arrows, Yami turns the corner and comes face-to-face with a duel monster.

Yami immediately backpedals and tries to call the shadows, wincing as they whipped against his flesh. 'So that isn't working…'

_I believe you have found out that our curse has reached the point where you can no longer call the shadows without bringing pain to yourself. With every second that passes your shadows get closer and closer to devouring you._

Yami expels the shadows, but he can see them lurking in the corner of his eye. Recognizing the duel monster in front of him as Saggi the Dark Clown, Yami places himself in a defensive position, ready to sprint when he can. It wounds his pride that he will have to run from a battle, but without the shadows there is no way for him to fight against a duel monster. Saggi spins, disappearing, and Yami runs through where the clown had disappeared. He turns down a hallway and slows to a stop. He hears a laugh and turns around to see Saggi spinning behind him. Yami tries to duck out of the way of the incoming knife, but it strikes his shoulder. Yami lets out a grunt in pain and removes the crooked dagger, spinning it in his hand to force it into Saggi. He watches silently as the clown fades away, smiling creepily with a knife in his stomach.

Yami grips his arm, but looks down in surprise when he feels no blood. A red welt is on his arm, and it doesn't appear to be open, but a fine blue mist is seeping out of it. The shadows surround him, and lick at the mist, before whispering out words of crooked delight and promises of power.

Yami covers his arm again and walks through the shadows, scowling at the weakness he was feeling in his legs. He shakes his head and keeps going, determined to get to Yugi.

* * *

Yugi whimpers and stands up, crying out as the movement jostled his shoulder. He hears a giggle and looks up in fright, before relaxing at seeing two dolls, each holding a box. "Oh, you're from Ryou's deck, aren't you? Uh…Cursed Twin Dolls, right?"

The red and blue dolls do not reply, but instead step forward to push their boxes under Yugi's face. "Oh? Do you want me to pick one? But we aren't in the middle of a game…"

The dolls gain frowns and push the boxes forward again. "Okay! Okay, um…I chose the blue box."

The red doll steps forward, and opens her box, revealing the spell card, Magical Hats. Yugi frowns, "Okay, so what does that mean? I don't have a graveyard, or a deck."

The two dolls just smile and slide backwards, ignoring Yugi and disappearing into the dark. Yugi is about to yell out to them when he hears it. The wailing of lost souls drifts across his ears. He jerks around and winces at his arm, but spins his head to try and find the source. "Hello? Do you-Do you need help?" he yells into the shadows, trying to ignore the faint brushes he could feel against his arms and legs, and takes a step forward. "Hello?"

The wailing only gets louder and when Yugi takes another step forward, he feels hands grip and wrap around his legs. Yugi trips and falls to the ground, and lets out a scream as he lands on his shoulder, reopening the wound. The smell of fresh blood only seems to encourage the unseen hands and voices, and the shrieking gets louder as hands grab every inch of Yugi's body. He sobs and tries to squirm away, but can't because of the grip the hands have.

Suddenly, Yugi hears a roar and looks up to see Red Eyes Black Dragon barreling out of the dark, chasing away the ghostly hands. The duel monster throws its head back and lets out a fire ball, lightly up the dark enough for Yugi to see the deathly pale, almost see-through hands disappearing.

* * *

Yami stands in front of the door, covered in small scrapes from close calls from not only the traps, but from the hidden duel monsters as well. He glances at the purple colored Eye of Ra, before reaching out to the handle. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Yami grins at the door, twisting the knob to push it open.

The smell of blood and sweat reaches his nose, and he crinkles it before fully stepping inside the room. It is a single bedroom room, with a window on either side of the queen-size bed. There is no other furniture in the room, but Yami didn't notice that as his eyes focused on the squirming figure in the bed.

Yugi is chained to the bed posts, and struggling against it with his eyes glued shut. He is making whimpering noises and breathing heavy as blood drips down from an open wound in his shoulder.

Yami swears under his breath and walks over to Yugi. Just as he is about to reach out to touch him, Yugi lets out a blood-curling scream and a black and blistering burn appears on his right leg. Yugi twists and arches his back off the bed, the burn on his leg starting to fester.

"Why! Red Eyes! You're Joey's card! Why would…why would you attack me?" Yugi screams out into the room.

Yami had reached his limit, and he takes the risk of calling on the shadows to break the chains holding Yugi. He collapses on the side of the bed as an overwhelming rush of feelings comes over him. The desire to kill and maim, hatred for everyone, and a willingness to use the shadows regardless of the consequences drifted through Yami, and he would have succumbed to them if he couldn't hear the strangled screams of Yugi.

He pushes through the feelings, though they remain in the back of his mind, and grips Yugi's arm, ignoring the cuts that came from the shackles. "Yugi." Yami's voice comes out as a growl without him meaning to, "Wake up."

Yugi pushes against Yami, kicking his legs like he was sliding against the floor, and breathes in deep for another scream. Yami leans down and covers Yugi's mouth with his own, stopping any noise that would have come out. Amethyst eyes flutter open to meet black and crimson ones. A blush forms on Yugi's cheeks and he closes his eyes as he molds into the form above him.

Once Yami sees Yugi awake, he turns the kiss rough, shocking Yugi when his tongue enters the hikari's mouth. Yami doesn't wait for acceptance as he tangles his tongue with Yugi's, and ignores the whimper coming from below as he grips the back of Yugi's head pulling him in closer. Yugi grips Yami's shoulders and tries to push him off, but Yami only responds by forcing Yugi back onto the bed and pinning his arms above him.

Yugi lets out a muffled scream and squirms underneath Yami, trying to get away. Yami smirks and takes one hand away from Yugi's wrists to trail it down Yugi's body. Yugi bites down on Yami's tongue, hard, his breath shaky as Yami sits up, straddling him.

Yami takes away the hand holding Yugi's wrists and places it on his mouth. "You bit me."

"You're not yourself, Yami!" Yugi squirms and pushes against a non-resistant Yami and sits up once he isn't underneath him anymore. "You need to calm down!"

Yami holds his head and looks at Yugi, his pupils rimmed in black. "Oh Ra. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Yugi shakes his head and presses his lips on Yami's cheek. "You're fine, just don't scare me like that again."

Yami looks over Yugi's body, taking in the bloody wrists, the seeping wound on his shoulder, the black skin on his leg, then looking at the blood on his own hands, which had come from gripping those wounds. "I am so sorry, aibou. I made a promise never to let anything happen to you after the Orichalcos took you, and what do I do? I go and hurt you even more."

"Yami, look at me." Yugi sets his worried gaze on Yami's face, ignoring the dizziness running through him to focus on Yami. "I'm fine, it isn't your fault." Yugi crawls into Yami's lap and hugs him, setting his face on Yami's shoulder. He takes deep breaths and bites his lip so Yami doesn't see how much it really is hurting. "I love you."

Yami is surprised at first at the hug, before he wraps his arms tightly around Yugi. "Aibou, I-"

_Congratulations on being the first to find your hikari!_

Yugi starts to shake as Eboni's voice drifts through the room and Yami holds on tighter, murmuring calming words to comfort him.

_Yes, you even managed to break the shadow spell on him without succumbing to your own shadows. I'm impressed. _Yami growls as Sheut's voice joins Eboni's. _Now, for one more challenge before the final round. Yugi, will you stay with Yami?_

"Of course!" Yami is surprised at the surety in Yugi's voice, and glances at his hikari, who is glaring in to the corners of the room, where shadows are drifting. "I love him, I would never leave him, ever!"

Yami smiles and pecks Yugi's cheek, to high on happiness to even register that Eboni had started to speak again. _Very well. We welcome you to the final stage._

The room spins around Yugi and Yami, and Yugi has to grip Yami's arm to keep from passing out. The world flashes gold around the two before everything goes black, the last thing they see is each other's eyes. Scared, pain-filled violet and crimson almost overpowered by black filled with hatred.

* * *

**SW: Holy crap! That took FOREVER!**

**Malik: Who's next? Is it us?**

**SW: I don't know yet, but if this chapter is any sign to how hard the next two are going to be, I will literally die before this story is over.**

**Ryou: I feel really bad for you, I mean you've got school, theatre, tennis, and a bunch of problems in your life right now.**

**Bakura: Don't feel bad, Rabbit, she put those responsibilities on herself.**

**SW: It's true…I did**

**Marik: Read and review to inspire SoWhatever to write! Then I can see Malik-pretty faster!**


	12. Marik and Malik

**SW: Phew, ok, I think I'm setting a record for myself at how fast I'm typing these things. I'm so tired I'm not even going to let any of the characters in my author's notes. This chapter is Malik and Marik and just like last chapter I am going to be switching between the two a lot so each line break is a switch.**

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**WARNING: Some minor rape in this chapter! Nothing really big and no one loses their virginity.**

\**Marik to Malik**\

/**Malik to Marik**/

**Read and enjoy!**

* * *

Marik stands in front of a door with a dark purple eye marked on it and laughs, thinking he had completed the labyrinth. He reaches out and grips his hand around the handle, but pulls back immediately in pain.

"Damn it! Fuck!" Marik shakes his hand and blows on it, trying to cool the burned skin. "What the hell?!"

Marik grips his wrist and glares at the door, wondering why it didn't open. Letting go of the blistering hand, Marik reaches out his other hand to touch the door, jerking his hand back when the same burning sensation reaches his fingertips.

_Honestly, _Marik looks up when he hears Eboni talking. _If you haven't figured it out by now, I might as well tell you. You aren't getting in that room, it isn't Malik's, in fact, it's Yugi's._

There is the sound of a thump before Sheut starts talking _You don't tell him that, you dung beetle!...Keep searching Marik, but you better be quick, we can see the effect the shadows are taking on you, and believe us, it doesn't look good._

Marik growls and continues down the hall, stomping his feet like a child. He is mad because he hasn't found Malik yet, his hand is hurting like hell, and he can't reach Malik through the mind link, which he guesses is Eboni and Sheut's doing.

'Marik'll find Malik-pretty. Marik won't let anyone hurt hikari-pretty ever again.' As soon as he finishes that thought he breaks out into a run, not even realizing he had reached a fork until he realizes he can't go straight anymore. He glances down both hallways and seeing nothing in either of them decides to take the one on the right.

Marik starts to run again, before slamming straight into a body. Marik is thrown to the floor next to the person he ran into, and he looks up to see a familiar scowling albino. He starts to cackle at seeing the annoyed face on Bakura. "Marik is sorry. Marik didn't mean to run into Bakura."

"Fuck you." Bakura stands up and wipes off his pants, which causes Marik to notice the cuts running up and down them. "Malik's hallway is down there." Bakura keeps walking, hands in his pockets as he leaves behind a confused Marik on the floor.

* * *

Malik jolts awake and whips his head around to stare at the dimly lit room. The only furniture is the white bed he finds himself chained to, the edges digging into him but luckily with no points digging in his skin like with the rope. His breath starts to quicken when he sees that all he has on his boxers and the chains are forcing him to keep his arms and legs spread. He franticly pulls to try and escape and flinches when he hears a knock at the door.

"I thought knocking to let you know I was here would be easier than if I just appeared out of nowhere." Eboni walks into the room with a smirk on his face.

Malik scowls and continues to pull against the chains.

"Oh, please. You won't be able to break those, there are reinforced with shadow magic, and a hikari like yourself could never fight against that."

Malik collapses against the bed in exhaustion and glares up at the ceiling, not even bothering to respond to Eboni.

"Oh come now." Eboni walks over to the side of the bed, placing a cold hand on Malik's bare chest, rubbing small circles with his thumb. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Malik close his eyes and forces a swallow to try and wet his suddenly dry mouth.

Eboni's hand stills and isn't long until Malik feels a second hand right below his crotch. "Since you are a virgin of course, I will wait until you realize this and accept that I can provide for you much better than that _Marik_."

Malik gives a relieved sigh, before opening his eyes to stare at Eboni. He tries not to squirm against the hands, and to not waver in his glare, "Never."

"…But that doesn't mean I can't pleasure myself. There are other ways to make you realize the good I can bring you." He places a small rod on the bed next to Malik and takes a small knife and rips the boxers off Malik. "You please me. And I will please you."

That's when a single tear falls down Malik's face.

* * *

Marik sprints down the hall, not slowing down even when he feels spears slashing at his arms and legs. He would find hikari-pretty, damn it. He slides to a halt when he sees an Enraged Battle Ox blocking his path. The monster grunts and slams a hoof down on the floor, shaking the surrounding walls.

Marik smirks and spreads his arms in a motion that said 'come at me'. The Ox roars and charges, lowering its head to barrel into Marik. Marik steps to side, cackling as the Ox stumbles when he overshoots his target. "Ole, bull!" The duel monster rumbles and prepares to charge again.

Marik gains a calm expression and his eyes flicker to black as he summons one of his own monsters, not bothering to notice the blue mist that drifted away from him when he did.

Marik falls to a knee as searing pain crosses through his body. He growls and struggles to stand back up, "Viser Des! Attack the bull!"

The morbid torture machine latches onto the Enraged Battle Ox, its screws tightening around the other duel monster's neck as it shocked the Ox. Marik is panting with effort when the duel monster eventually shatters and Viser Des fades into the background as more mist appears outside Marik's body, causing a loud scream to be ripped from his throat.

He licks his dry lips and shakes his head as he stands up to continue walking, 'Marik is coming Malik-pretty'

He doesn't know how long he had been walking when he feels the link open. \**Malik-pretty?**\ He tries, hopeful to connect through.

Marik feels an overwhelming amount pleasure course through his mind, and he has to reach a hand out to the wall to keep steady. /**Ma-Marik!**/ Marik feels an even greater amount of pleasure run over mind and he realizes what just happened.

\**Malik-pretty? Did you just come?**\

He shakes his head as the pleasure is replaced with absolute guilt and shame, completely unhindered like Malik normally keeps his emotions. /**Marik! Please-**/

The link is cut off again as Eboni's voice fills the hallway. _Well, I have to say that that was very pleasurable. I would bet that Malik would agree as well, wouldn't you Marik?_

Marik fists his hands and continues down the hall, rage consuming him and no longer caring about the shadows surrounding him.

_We're waiting for you, Marik…_

* * *

Malik sobs as Eboni removes the vibrator. Blood drips down his leg from the force that Eboni had inserted it with and he shakes as he feels a tongue lick away the wetness covering his legs.

"I think Marik took that quite well, I imagine he'll be here any minute."

Malik doesn't respond, just stares at the ceiling, not even moving when he feels the chains on his wrists removed. 'Marik hates me…I know it…I understand how Ryou is now…'

Eboni pushes Malik forward until he is on his hands and knees. "Now that I've pleased you, it's time for you to please me." He reattaches the chains so Malik can't move from that position and throws down his pants.

**KIND OF RAPE STARTS HERE!  
**Malik squeezes his eyes and mouth shut, trying to ignore the new body part in front of his face. He franticly shakes his head and keeps his head lowered, anything to avoid what he knows is coming. Eboni grips Malik's hair, yanking it up painfully and shoving himself inside Malik's mouth when the hikari opens his mouth to scream in pain.

Eboni moans as he feels the warmth of Malik's mouth surround and pulls out slightly only to pound in again. Malik gags against the member in his mouth and feels tears dripping down his face. He fists the sheets he is kneeling on and takes in a breath through his nose. Eboni uses both hands to grip Malik's hair, preventing him from moving away. Malik frowns around Eboni and bites down, hard.

Eboni hisses and removes one hand to slap Malik across the face. "Now, now, none of that." Malik closes his eyes against the sting and winces as he feels the hands tighten their grip in his hair. A dribble of spit leaks down Malik's chin and he makes the mistake of widening his mouth to try and breathe through it. Eboni shoves into the now more open mouth, and forces Malik to deep throat him.

**KIND OF RAPE ENDS HERE! (See? That wasn't so bad.)**

Malik gags again and in his misery barely hears the door slam open.

"LET MALIK-PRETTY GO!" Eboni is suddenly gone from Malik and Malik bends forward, putting his head between his knees, coughing and gagging against his rebelling throat.

Marik lets the shadows take him over and they surround him as they move around Eboni. Eboni smirks and the bottom half of his body fades slowly, working its way up. "I think I'll leave you two alone, good luck."

Marik whirls around to face the cowering Malik and with a flick of his hand breaks through the chains holding his hikari.

Malik immediately backpedals to the headboard, not bothering to hide the wince that came with moving his lower back.

Marik's completely black eyes narrow and he stalks forward, taking in the blood, cum, and the still wet vibrator on the bed. His eyes soften as he connects the dots, but the shadows rebel and the anger in him swells to new heights.

"Mar-Marik please…let met-let me explain-"

"Malik-pretty does not have to explain to Marik. Marik understands."

"Marik?" Malik crawls forward slowly and cautiously "I am so sorry. Please tell me you aren't angry."

"Marik cannot say that." Malik takes in a shaky breath when an angry, shadow-filled gaze meets his. "Marik is furious that someone would do this hikari-pretty."

"Marik-"

Malik is cut off as Sheut starts to speak. _That is enough. One final test before we see if you are worthy to face us in battle. Malik, will you stay with Marik?"_

Malik pauses, looking at Marik for any sign that he should say no. Finding none he answers shakily, "Ye-yes."

_Very well._

The world starts to spin and Malik automatically reaches out to Marik and grips onto his arm. Marik glares into the whirlwind that surrounds them and steadies Malik as gold flashes across his eyes before it fades to black.

* * *

**SW: Woohoo! I did it on time for my schedule!**

**Ryou: Oh, and look! Spring break is next week!**

**Bakura: What's that supposed to mean?**

**Malik: It means she will have more time to write and get to your part!**

**Bakura: Oh. Right.**

**Marik: Malik-pretty is so smart! *glomps Malik***

**Yugi: *ignoring the yelling that was followed with making out* As you can see, finishing this chapter has brought SoWhatever's spirits up so much that she let us in the end notes ^-^**

**Yami: *reading from paper* SoWhatever would like for you to review to tell her what she did wrong, right, what you hated and liked. *throws paper over shoulder* That was stupid! Why was I the only one who had to read something!**

**SW: Love you, Yami!**


	13. Ryou and Bakura

**SW: I'm surprising myself at how fast I am writing these chapters!**

**Ryou: I looked at your story plan, and it looks like you only have like 5 more chapters left.**

**SW: Yep! Maybe even less than that!**

**Like the last two chapters this will involve a lot of switching between characters only this time it's Ryou and Bakura, so each line break is a switch.**

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Read on, I hope you like!**

* * *

Bakura walks down the hallway, keeping an eye out for anything other than white walls and white ceilings and white floors and damn it why was it all white!

Bakura clenches his teeth and growls lowly, walking quickly to keep his mind off replaying the scene where he saw Ryou last.

'Well, what'd you expect? Rabbit didn't trust you to begin with and after he thinks you tortured him, of course he would hate you…he looked scared…what did he think I did?'

Bakura scowls and doesn't even notice that he had passed by a door until a few steps after. He backtracks and stares at the light purple eye in front of him. Looking down the way he came and the hallway he would have kept walking, he smirks and reaches for the doorknob. 'Well, that was easy.'

Shadows immediately emerge from every crack in the door and surround Bakura slashing out at his arms and drawing blood. Bakura stumbles back and watches as the shadows retract the farther he got away from the door.

He stares at the door and the eye for a moment, before a very thief-like smirk reaches his face. 'Got it. Now I have to look for a door with a brown eye on it.'

He stuffs his hands in his pockets and keeps walking. It isn't long until he hears the pounding of footsteps and just as he is about to step out of the way, a body barrels into him, sending Bakura and Marik to the floor.

"Marik is sorry. Marik didn't mean to run into Bakura." Bakura looks at the crazed and laughing yami and scowls "Fuck you." Bakura stands and wipes off his pants, holding back the hiss that would have come out every time he brushes against one of his cuts. He replaces his hands in his pockets and keeps walking. "Malik's hallway is down there." He says as he walks away.

* * *

Ryou wakes up slowly and notices he is now tied up with rope, the harsh texture rubbing into previous cuts. "I apologize for having to tie you up, but it was necessary." Ryou glances up from his wrists to see Sheut standing next to the bed. Ryou shrugs, "It's okay."

"But it isn't. I hate to see you tied up like this. I want you to know that I never meant for you to get hurt." Sheut places a hand on Ryou's shoulder.

Ryou doesn't move away from the touch, but does look away. "But I did, not like it matters anyway."

"Of course it matters. _You _matter, at least to me."

This causes Ryou to look up into the sincere face of Sheut, but misses the smirk that follows when he looks back down. "I just…I thought that we could at least be friends, you know? That he didn't hate that much, so we could get along…I guess not."

Sheut crawls onto the bed and kneels next to Ryou, "You can never know someone's true feelings," He places his arm around Ryou's shoulder, rubbing small circles with his thumb on the opposite shoulder, "but _I_ will always tell you the truth."

Ryou sniffs, from holding back tears and because his nose had started to run from holding back one too many coughs, and reluctantly relaxes into Sheut "Th-Thanks."

What Ryou doesn't see is the cunning smile and dangerous look in Sheut's eyes as he replies, "Anytime."

* * *

After a run-in with Yami, Bakura stomps down the correct hallway, swears dripping out of his mouth as each movement jostles his arms. He guesses he had been walking for around ten minutes when he pauses. He had seen the insides of multiple tombs that he had stolen from, but even the most minor ones had had some form of traps. Why aren't there any here? He doubts that Eboni and Sheut are stupid enough to leave a free path to Ryou's room.

He slowly walks forward, much more alert now. After a few minutes of nothing happening, Bakura scowls and glances around again. He stops and breaths deeply, listening. He can hear a scream of pain coming from the left that he guesses is Marik and whispers of shadows from the right. Yep, there are definitely traps. So why aren't there any for him?

He continues walking, keeping an ear out for anything dangerous. His mind is whirring as he makes it farther and farther down the hallway with nothing happening.

His scowl deepens as he sees a familiar door, only this time with a brown eye painted on it. 'What the hell?'

* * *

"Why wo-won't you let me talk with Bakura?" Ryou glances up slowly to look at Sheut, who is now sitting crossed-legged in front of him, nervous about asking a question.

Sheut puts on a confused face and stares at Ryou, "What do you mean?"

"We-well, I can't connect to the mind link, and the only other time it's ever happened is when you blocked it."

Sheut bites his lip and places his hands on Ryou's folded knees. "Ryou…we removed that curse a while ago."

"You did?" Ryou chooses to ignore the hands in trying to get more information.

"Yes. The only other thing it could be is Bakura, right? Bakura is blocking you out."

"I…never thought of that." Ryou can believe it though. Bakura hates him, and the way Sheut's sweet voice is saying it…did he just think sweet?

"I'm sorry that I had to be the one to tell you." Sheut leans forward until their faces are inches apart, continuing to lace shadows into his words.

Ryou gains a dazed look. "It's alright…I don't care"

Sheut smirks and leans in even closer, noticing how Ryou doesn't flinch or move away. "I could never hate you, you know that?"

Ryou blinks, trying to form a coherent thought through the mush that was now his brain. "Yeah…"

Sheut tilts his head and pushes forward, to meet his lips with Ryou's. Ryou's eyes widen and he looks up as he hears the door open. Standing there, watching Sheut kiss Ryou and Ryou not push away, is Bakura.

"What the hell?" Ryou flinches at the anger in Bakura's voice and Sheut pulls away to turn and stare at Bakura.

"Oh, it's you. Do you mind coming back in a little bit? We were kind of in the middle of something."

"Fuck you." Bakura steps towards the bed, watching as Ryou inches back in response. "I don't know what lies you fed him, but Ryou is _mine_, and no one else can have him."

Ryou looks at Bakura with wide eyes, filled with a mix fright and hope. "Bakura?"

Sheut glares at Bakura and starts to disappear, "Good luck, you're running out of time."

As soon as Sheut leaves, Ryou scrambles back to the headboard, his hands still tied in front of him. Bakura slowly approaches the bedside as Ryou watches with wide eyes. 'Just like a rabbit, Rabbit' Bakura places his hands out in a surrendering manner and reaches into his pocket to pull out a dagger.

Ryou whimpers and buries his head in his knees looking away from Bakura. "I'm not going to hurt you, Yadonushi." Bakura says as softly as he can manage. 'Damn it, I'm going soft' he reaches forward and grabs one of Ryou's wrists, watching as Ryou flinches before submitting, accepting that he is going to get hurt. Bakura scowls and in one swift motion, cuts the bonds holding his hikari.

He places the knife on the bed and takes a few steps back, giving Ryou room. Ryou slowly looks up, bringing his wrists in front of his face before looking at Bakura confused. "Why did you let me go?" the whisper could barely be heard, but to the trained ears of a thief, it was loud and clear.

Bakura crosses his arms and turns his head to look at the wall, "Weren't you listening Yadonushi? You are _mine_, as in, no one can bind you…" he gains a smirk, "…unless you want to be."

Ryou has the decency to blush, before he slowly creeps to the edge of the bed, letting his legs dangle from the side. "But…but what about earlier? When you-When you…" Ryou takes a deep breath and tries to hold back tears, letting out a small cough in the process.

"What about it?" Bakura ignores the gasp form his hikari and keeps talking, "That wasn't me, Rabbit, that was Eboni in disguise, he used shadow magic to trick you."

Ryou pauses for a moment, before glancing up from his knees. "Rabbit?"

'Did I let that slip? Oops.' Bakura scowls, "What, I can't have a nickname for you?"

Ryou shakes his head, "No, it's just…" He smiles brightly, shocking Bakura, "I like it better than Yadonushi." Ryou suddenly bends over himself in coughing fit, everything that he had been holding back coming out at once. His entire body shakes and Bakura rushes over to place a hand on Ryou's shoulder, ignoring the flinch. "Are you alright, Ryou?" he asks softly.

"Mhm" Ryou mumbles and sits up straight again, trying to hide the motion of wiping blood from the side of his mouth, "Just a small…" Ryou takes a breath to calm the itch in the back of his throat, "…cough"

Bakura narrows his eyes as he notices the movement of Ryou's hand to his mouth, and the red substance on the back of his hand when it is removed, "Rab-"

_Hooray! You've found you're hikari! _Eboni's voice bursts into the room and Bakura doesn't stop the growl that comes out at the sound of it. _But before we let you pass into the next level, one final test._

Bakura smirks, "Test? Please, you didn't have a single trap and I found Ryou easily."

_This test isn't for you, Bakura. _Sheut speaks up. _We made it easy for you because we knew that Ryou would have trouble passing the last test, so we wanted to be fair and give you time._

Bakura growls again and glances down at the frightened Ryou, "What is it?"  
_Simple. Ryou, will you stay with Bakura?_

Ryou's eyes widen and he glances about the room, everywhere but at Bakura. "Wh-what?"

_I think the question is pretty straight forward, but I will repeat it. Will you stay with Bakura?_

Ryou falters for a moment, glancing sideways at Bakura and remembering the words he had said when he was being tortured. '…but he just said that that wasn't really him…I'm so confused.'

"Rabbit…" Ryou looks up to see Bakura's back facing, before he clears his throat, "I mean, Ryou…if you don't want to…I can understand why, but I just wanted to…uh" Bakura falters and Ryou lets out a small giggle. Bakura turns back around to face Ryou with his arms crossed. "This isn't funny!"

Ryou puts on a very Bakura-like smirk and decides to tease his yami, "Oh? The great and powerful Bakura faltering when it might be possible that I could say no? I believe that is hilarious."

Bakura blinks at the smirk, before turning around to stare at the corner again. "Fine, say no then, like I care."

This time Ryou blinks and frowns, he had thought Bakura would have caught his teasing tone. "Bakura…" He reaches out to touch Bakura's arm, eyes widening when he feels sticky wetness and Bakura lets out a hiss. "You're hurt!"

Bakura grunts as Ryou suddenly leaps up and pulls Bakura to sit on the bed, examining his arms. "I don't think they'll need stitches…we should still get some antiseptic on them though."

Bakura watches with an amused glance. "Says the guy with gouges in his wrists."

Ryou frowns and continues to look Bakura's arm, ignoring the 'hey!' when he twists it to look at the underside, "That's nothing, besides all my other wounds were healed by yo-Eboni before my next 'session'."

Bakura scowls at the word session and is about to ask what that's supposed to mean when Sheut speaks again, annoyed. _Alright! Enough! Ryou give your answer._

Ryou pauses and looks up to meet Bakura's eyes, but they were turned away, suddenly finding the wall next to them very interesting. Ryou gives a small smile and reaches up to cover a small cough, ignoring how Bakura's eyes flick back to him in an instant, though his head is still turned away. "I'll stay…with Bakura." He hadn't realized how hard it is becoming to talk until after he had said that, but he is determined not to show any weakness.

_Fine. _Bakura smirks when he hears the frown in Sheut's voice. The room spins around them, which does nothing to help Ryou's condition, who grips onto Bakura's arm, forgetting the cuts in the moment to keep steady. Though Bakura winces when he feels Ryou grip him, he doesn't move and the last thing he sees before the room goes black is Ryou's face, eyes clenched in pain and mouth in a grimace.

* * *

**SW: And done!**

**Bakura: I hate weakness.**

**Ryou: Feelings aren't weakness, Bakura!**

**Bakura: Whatever.**

**Malik: Next up is the fight scene, right?**

**SW: Mhm.**

**Marik: YES! Do I get to kick some ass? Specifically Eboni's?**

**SW: Maybe…no spoilers!**

**Yugi: Please review to give her inspiration to write!**


	14. Til The End

**SW: Fair warning, I suck at fight scenes.**

**Bakura: *reading over chapter* Yes, you do.**

**Ryou: Bakura! *snickering from Malik and Marik***

**SW: Thank you to yamistar22 for reviewing! I really appreciate it!**

**Anywho, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, probably never will, but enjoy reading this anyway!**

Yugi blinks his eyes open to the sound of retching and fights through the fog in his brain and the pain everywhere on his body to see Ryou coughing into his arm. Ryou's entire body shudders when he sits back up and leans into Malik's shoulder, his breathing heavy and his eyes closed. Malik is sitting between them with his arms wrapped around their shoulders, and he glances down before going back to staring in front of them, "Good to see you up, Yugi."

Yugi hums and glances about the room, his eyes halting at the scene in front of him, "How long have I been out? What's happened since then? Where are we? Who is that third guy?"

The three yamis were in a protective stance in front of their hikaris and there were three men opposing them. Two were Sheut and Eboni, but the last was weird, he looked like a regular man, but he was larger than everyone in the room and had the mask that looked like a jackal on. They were in a wide and open room, something like a throne room, with three thrones at the end of the hall and pillars running down the sides until the door, which was right behind them. It reminded Yugi of an Egyptian palace.

"Okay, okay. Slow down. You've only been asleep for a few minutes, apparently we all got here at the same time, you had collapsed when we arrived and we were ushered to the side to let the yamis fight." Malik's tone is bitter and Yugi could tell he isn't happy with the decision. "From what I've gathered, we are in the hall of judgment. And that…is Anubis."

That catches Yugi's attention. "Anubis, as in THE Anubis, Egyptian god of mummification?"

The god hears that snippet of conversation and looks up from the stare-down with Yami to smirk at Yugi. His eyes rake up and down Yugi's small body before meeting his eyes. "That is right, my little Yugi. I have heard much about you, and seen you through images, but none of it can acclaim to your real beauty." Yugi frowns and glances sideways to see Ryou and Malik avoiding his eyes. He turns to Anubis and sticks his tongue out.

The smirk on Anubis' face widens, looking strange on the dog face, "Be careful, desert flower, I might have to find another use for that tongue of yours."

Yugi immediately pulls his tongue back in and Yami growls out, "Enough! Anubis, what is the meaning of this?"

Anubis shifts his gaze back to Yami, his smirk never faltering, "If it isn't obvious, my friends and I have taken a liking to your hikaris and we believe to be more deserving of them than you."

Marik lets out a barking laugh, "Never!"

"Why don't we settle this in the traditional way?" Sheut asks, his eyes never leaving Bakura's.

Bakura scoffs, "You wouldn't last three minutes with us in a shadow game."

Eboni smirks at Malik, causing him to shiver, "We'll see."

Ryou still hasn't opened his eyes and feels the beginning of a headache coming on, "Don't we have any say in this?" he whispers to Malik and Yugi.

"Guess not." Malik whispers back.

"Guys…I would pay attention, I think they're going to the shadow realm."

This causes Malik to look up, glancing in fright at the shadows that were forming in every corner of the room, spreading to surround the six in the middle. "I don't think Marik will last very long, the shadows were already consuming before we even came here. I'm worried for him."

"I'm worried for all of them." Yugi attempts to stand up, but isn't prepared for the flash of pain that makes him see white and the dizziness that made him wobble before he lets a foot back to get more balance. He bites his lip to keep from screaming and looks down to see a hole in his pant leg, a blistering burn showing through on his leg.

"Yugi! Are you alright?" Malik stands up, picking up Ryou and placing a hand on Yugi's shoulder.

Yugi lets a moan and can't stand up any longer, he falls to the ground landing on his back. Malik looks at his hand in shock and his eyes widen at the amount of blood he had gotten smeared on his palm. "Yugi!" He lets Ryou, who had become unresponsive, down to the ground and rushes to Yugi's side, crouching next to him. "You didn't tell me you were hurt!"

Yugi just shakes his head with his eyes closed in pain and doesn't try to speak. Ryou, who had actually been listening to the conversation but was feigning sleep so no one would see the pain every movement made, feels a tug at his chest and gasps as the tug deepens. He opens his eyes to see a shimmering form in front of him.

He rubs his eyes and glances over to see Malik looking at him in shock before he turns back to stare at the duel monster he just summoned. Mystical Elf hovers above him, smiling down in a motherly way.

Marik growls as the shadows around him rebel against his orders, darting across the Shadow Realm with no one to control them. Each time they struck him, a stream of blue mist drifts away from his body and he loses a little more of himself. He sees Yami on his knees in the same situation he is and Bakura glaring down Sheut, even though he is wincing every time the shadows hit hm.

Anubis lets out a bark and grins down at the yamis. "Well, well. Look at this, the gods' favored ones, reduced to just standing there, unable to do anything."

"Fuck…you." Marik hadn't realized Bakura was panting until he spoke, and like Bakura, Marik is finding it hard to stay standing.

"How long do you think they'll last, Eboni?"

"Not much longer, maybe five minutes." Eboni and Sheut start to laugh as Anubis' grin widens.

"Then their hikaris will be ours." Sheut says, walking forward to stand in front of Bakura. "I will take pleasure in telling Ryou what your last words were, that 'you hated him and you wished he would just die already.' And who will be there to comfort him? Me, of course."

Bakura scowls and makes a feeble attempt to attack Sheut with the shadows, but it ends up backfiring and sending Bakura to the floor.

Anubis steps forward and grips the front of Yami's shirt, "And what's this? The great and powerful Pharaoh, reduced to cowering on his knees in front of a god! Don't you think I'm more deserving then _you _of all people? Yugi is the most beautiful man alive and only a god deserves such a prize!"

Yami growls low and tries to summon a monster, and the shadows start to take form, before they burst apart and attack Yami, causing him to shudder in pain. "Despicable." Anubis says in disgust and throws Yami down to the ground.

While both of these are happening Eboni approaches a seething Marik and sneers as Marik makes no move to attack. "What? To scared? Or maybe you're just too weak. You know Malik is really beautiful when he has a look of absolute pleasure on his face. It won't be long until I get to see that again, and I will be the one causing it."

Marik glares at Eboni and launches himself forward, surprising Eboni when he attacks with fists instead of shadows. He tackles Eboni to the ground, relishing in the grunt of pain he causes. "Sick bastard! Malik-pretty is Marik's!" He punches Eboni across the face, but is thrown back by strands of shadows that are attached to Eboni's fingers. He twists them together and Marik is tied with his hands behind his back and forced to his knees.

Eboni stands up and wipes the side of his mouth and tenderly touches his left eye, where a black eye was beginning to form. Eboni walks up to a struggling Marik and grabs a hold of his chin, holding it still as he lifts his fist up. "You'll pay for that, Marik."

"Yami! Marik!" Yugi rushes to Yami and Malik places an unconscious Ryou down next to Bakura before stalking up to Eboni. Eboni releases Marik and backs up a step before realizing what he is doing and stands his ground, glaring at the approaching hikari.

"You should've kept backing up." Malik smirks out and raises his left fist to punch Eboni in his uninjured eye, before kneeing him in the stomach as he bends over in pain. As he collapses to his knees, gasping, Malik brings down his elbow on his curved back, effectively sending him to the ground, where he does not rise. Malik turns and walks back over to Marik, anger rolling off him in waves.

"Malik-pretty is hot when he is mad." Marik says as he looks Malik up and down, standing up and pulling apart the now non-resisting shadows.

Malik looks at Marik, searching his eyes for the yami that he knew, and not seeing it there, he sighs. "Marik, you are crazy." He says in a deadpan voice.

Marik lets a cackle, and his voice starts to become tripled, like there are three people talking at once. "Marik knows that. Did hikari-mine just figure that out?"

"No…I just wish I could have my Marik back…" A single tear runs down Malik's face as he stares up into Marik's and he ducks his head to hide any future tears.

"Maybe you will, hikari-pretty. But first, Marik has to deal with the one who hurt hikari-pretty."

Malik swallows hard and nods, not trusting his voice at the moment.

Marik strolls forward, hands in his pockets. He grips Eboni's hair and yanks him up to a standing position, relishing in the second black eye that was forming. Marik lets out a laugh before gaining a completely serious expression. He shakes Eboni awake and growls out, "Transfer the spell." His tone tells Eboni that he isn't joking and Marik grips his hair tighter to make sure the message gets across.

"Wh-what?"

"Marik said, transfer the spell. You were the one who put it on hikari-pretty to give to Marik, right? So transfer it to someone else." Malik shivers at the triple sound of Marik's voice, and knows that he is close to being consumed.

Eboni gulps and shakes his head slightly, and winces in pain as he does, "That-That'll kill me. It'll…it'll be going against the contract I made to make that spell."

Marik lets go of Eboni's hair and grabs hold of his arms, twisting it behind him painfully until he hears a bone crack. "Does it look like Marik cares?" He smiles maniacally as Eboni shakes his head.

"No..." He smirks against the pain, the lower half of his body already being torn apart by the shadows, "…but you never said who I had to transfer it to!"

Marik feels the walls against his shadows build up again and glances sideways at the scream of pain Yugi had just made. Dropping the now dead Eboni to be devoured entirely by the shadows, he walks over to Malik and grabs his wrist before walking over to where Yami is now bent over Yugi.

While this is happening, Bakura sits up with a groan and looks around to see Ryou unconscious with Sheut bent over him, muttering words as the shadows dance over his fingers.

"Sheut!" Bakura growls out and gets to one knee, knowing he didn't have the strength to stand yet.

The man looks over at Bakura with a disinterested look, and never stops his moving mouth as both of his hands dance over Ryou's heart and head.

Bakura risks standing, and stalks over with weak legs, before getting Sheut with an uppercut that sends him down to the ground. Sheut sits up and wipes the blood from his mouth, spitting out a molar in the process. "It doesn't matter that you stopped me, I got far enough into the love spell that Ryou will finally realize what potential I can bring him."

Ignoring what he is saying at the moment, Bakura lets the shadows run rampant. They brush across his body on their way to Sheut, but he could care less at the moment. Sheut lets out a scream as the shadows surround him and Bakura can only smile and watch as they peel off each piece of skin Sheut has on his body. He is losing life force by the second, but it is worth it to watch as blood spurts forth from Sheut's mouth and he falls to the ground dead. The shadows make quick work of discarding the body, covering it completely before tearing it apart to spread it across the Shadow Realm.

That's when the weakness hits him. Clenching his teeth from the wooziness he feels in his head, Bakura manages a few more steps to get to Ryou before he collapses by his unresponsive body. It takes all his strength to sit up on his knees and reach his hand out to touch Ryou's forehead. Doing his best to ignore the fever that is heating up Bakura's hand, Bakura swears under his breath. "Damn it. He must have been borrowing power from someone else, the spell is still there…" Bakura lets his hand slip down to cup Ryou's cheek.

Ryou wrinkles his nose as he feels the hand on his face and blinks his eyes open as he hears someone whisper "I'm sorry, Ryou."

Bakura chokes back a gasp as Ryou opens his eyes, beautiful chocolate brown now a shade of shining emerald. Ryou blinks his eyes again and sits up, looking around. "Where's Sheut?"

The worried sound in Ryou's voice causes him to collapse backwards, resting his hands behind his back and closing his eyes, not even caring anymore that it made it easier for the shadows to get to him.

"Didn't he say he would be here when I woke up?" Bakura can hear Ryou start to tear up, and can imagine the emerald eyes shining even more now, "He said he'd never leave…"

Bakura growls and reaches forward to grip his hikari's shoulder, watching as he flinches backwards, "Listen to me, Rabbit. You are _mine. _M-I-N-E. No one else's, got it? I will never let anyone else take you and you better believe I will never leave you." With that he brings Ryou's face up into a crushing kiss, not caring if he is hurting Ryou or not.

Bakura keeps his eyes open and watches as Ryou's eyes widen and he starts to fight against the kiss. Though a little piece of Bakura, that he hated to admit he had, breaks when he does this, Bakura grips the back of Ryou's head almost painfully so that he couldn't move away. The emerald starts to swirl out Ryou's eyes, before he lets them drift close. Bakura smirks as Ryou moans into the kiss slightly and he decides to take it to the next level, roughly shoving his tongue past Ryou's lips and pushing Ryou down to the ground, not caring where they were at the moment.

Ryou's eyes flash open as he feels his arms pinned on either side of his head and looks up in fright to see lust-filled black eyes. He doesn't fight against the tongue that is now plunging inside his mouth, but tears well up in sadness when he realizes that he has finally lost Bakura.

Bakura notices the tears and breaks the kiss, pulling apart but not moving from his position of hovering over Ryou. "You're crying…why?"

Ryou chokes down a sob at the doubled sound of Bakura's voice, letting out a sad laugh, "Nothing, Bakura. I just…miss you is all."

Bakura bends down and nuzzles into Ryou's neck, kissing it tenderly, "But I'm right here Rabbit, why would you miss me?"

The fact that Bakura is being so tender and caring is starting to scare Ryou, and he bites his lip to keep from whimpering.

"Ooooh, Rabbit better stop doing that, you're teasing me." Bakura bites down on Ryou's neck gently in warning and Ryou immediately lets go of his lip.

Bakura looks up as a scream fills the air and sees Marik pulling Malik towards Yami and a collapsed Yugi, with Anubis hovering over them with a wicked smile. He sighs and stands, a dangerous smirk playing across his features, "Guess we have to go join them." He reaches his hand out towards Ryou, who reluctantly takes it, worried that there will be consequences if he doesn't.

As Marik is fighting Eboni and Bakura, Sheut, Yugi reaches Yami's side. Yugi leans over Yami and brushes back one of the jagged bangs that framed his face as Yami sits up and looks apologetically at Yugi. "I'm sorry, aibou. I was unable to protect you."

Yugi smiles gently and wraps Yami in a quick hug, before pulling back to look at Yami. "You did protect me! It isn't your fault that you were cursed!...it's mine." The last part was a whisper as he ducks his head down.

Yami looks at Yugi in shock and places his hands on each of Yugi's shoulders "Don't EVER think that again! Yugi…" He remembers that Yugi is supposed to be injured and immediately removes his hands, hoping that he hadn't hurt Yugi, "…Did I hurt you? Are you okay?"

Yugi looks confused before he giggles slightly, "Yeah, funny thing, Ryou can summon Mystical Elf and he healed me!" He frowns "But he collapsed before Mystical Elf could cure his sickness, I'm really worried for him."

Yami looks over to where Ryou and he makes sure that Yugi doesn't turn to look, seeing Bakura kissing Ryou quite fiercely. "I think he'll be fine."

Little did they know that as they were talking, Anubis had been walking up to them and watching them with a glint in his eyes. Anubis lets out a laugh and appears in front of the pair. "How cute. It's too bad that I have to end this little scene." He eyes up Yugi, and smirks as a shiver runs up the young boy's spine. "I have to kill Yami of course, but you little desert flower, will be coming back with me to conquer the realm of the gods."

Yami growls and moves in front of Yugi in a protective stance. "Stay away from-" All thoughts are cut off as Yugi lets out a high-pitched scream and falls to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Yugi! Are you okay?" Yami completely disregards Anubis and turns to reach a hand towards Yugi. However, as soon as his fingers brush against the squirming form of Yugi, he lets out another scream and shadows can be seen gathering around him. Yami sucks in a breath as the barriers reform in his mind and the overpowering presence of the shadows disappears. "Wha-"

Anubis laughs again and Yami whips his head around to see a scythe coming towards him.

**SW: Aaand I think I'll end it there!**

**Yami: What!**

**Yugi: Why did you do that to me SoWhatever?**

**SW: Plot?**

**Yami: No excuse!**

**Ryou: Review please!**

**Yugi: *puppy dog eyes* Pretty please?**


	15. Shadow Yugi

**SW: OK, so I've got another chapter for y'all!**

**Bakura: Finally!**

**SW: …but since I'm nearing the end of this story, I'm having trouble deciding what I should do for my next one. I've got three ideas and I think each one is really good.**

**Ryou: Aren't you going to tell us what they are?**

**SW: Nop!**

**Marik: Why the hell not?**

**SW: You'll just have to read them when they come out!**

**And thank you to MetTheRealWorld for reviewing! For every review I get it's like a new inspiration for this story! Thank you!**

**Hope you like!**

**P.S. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! :/ I'd be rich if I did though!**

* * *

Yami takes in a quick breath as the blade is stopped an inch from his face. He looks down the blade and sees a solid block of shadows holding it at the base, preventing it from coming down any further. Hearing a chuckle he looks over to see Marik holding out a hand, controlling the shadows that are holding the blade. Yami watches as Bakura drags Ryou to kneel next to a curled Yugi, his body writhing in pain.

Anubis glares at Marik, who has an arm wrapped around the waist of a scowling Malik, "How-You can control the shadows!"

Marik smirks, "Your _loyal _servant transferred it. And it looks like to Yugi."

All eyes go to the small, squirming body and Bakura, in an almost trance-like way, reaches his hand out. "No!" Yami yells, but this only causes Bakura to jerk forward and grip Yugi's arm.

Yugi lets out a third blood-curling scream and the shadows around the young hikari grow in size. Bakura slowly lets go and shakes his head, blinking as the shadows that are clouding his vision fade and disappear. "What the hell?"

Anubis lets out a laugh, "How perfect! As soon as the dark consumes him, he won't be able to resist the power that I will offer him."

"Shut up!" Yami stands and summons the Dark Magician, "Attack, Dark Magician!"

Anubis is thrown back, taken in shock by the Dark Magic Attack, "You too? You can now control the shadows as well?"

Bakura stands, leaving Ryou on the floor beside Yugi, "Yugi took all of our shadows." Marik smirks and joins Bakura in standing behind Yami, "We've got some revenge to deal out."

Malik runs over to join Ryou beside Yugi as all three yamis begin their assault on Anubis, knowing that since he has no control over shadows he wouldn't be able to help much, "How is he?"

Ryou shakes his head and keeps his eyes on the quivering form beside him, watching as the shadows seeped into every part of his body. He holds back the itch in his throat and swallows roughly to try to get rid of it "I don't know…"

Malik grunts and looks down at his friend, hating that there is nothing he can do to help him.

Marik lets out a grunt as an assault of shadows gets past his Gil Garth and he immediately replaces it with Dark Jeroid.

"Damn Marik! Can your creatures get any creepier?" Bakura shouts as he replaces his summoned Dark Ruler Ha Des with Headless Knight.

Marik just laughs insanely and continues to fight, Anubis sending out enough shadows for all three of them to be busy.

Yami scowls as he faces Anubis, his Dark Magician facing off against Theinen the Great Sphinx. The two face each other and as Anubis gains a new scythe, his old one forgotten by Yugi, Yami holds out his hand and grabs at the handle of a scimitar. The handle is decorated with crimson and amethyst jewels and fits perfectly in Yami's hand. The blade is covered in curving shadows and the tip gleams from the point.

Anubis scoffs, "You think that shiny curved sword will do anything against me? Face it, in a matter of moments, Yugi will be completely corrupt and will join me at my side!"

"Silence!" Yami lurches forward and spins his sword, making the first move.

Anubis just continues to laugh and dodges each strike that Yami makes. For a few moments the only sounds that could be were the gleeful laughs of Marik and Bakura as they unleashed Masked Beast Des Gaurdius and Dark Necrofear, the occasional blast from the Dark Magician, and the clanging of Yami's and Anubis' swords.

Just as Marik and Bakura begin to overpower the monsters that Anubis had sent after them and Yami is able to knock the scythe from Anubis' hand, holding the scimitar at his throat, a harsh voice yells out, "Enough!"

The fighting pauses at the power behind that voice and the fighters all look to see a smirking Yugi standing next to Ryou and Malik, both unconscious. "Ryou! Malik!" Marik and Bakura rush forward, only to be thrown back by the pulsing shadows that are coming off Yugi.

Yugi lifts an eyebrow and glances down, "Oh? Did I hurt them?" Yugi lets out a laugh, "My bad." He starts walking forward and stops in front of Yami, the shadows enveloping the two. He looks Yami up and down and grimaces, meeting Yami's gaze with black-filled eyes, "Why ever fell for _you, _I'll never know."

"Yugi…" Yami reaches a hand out to him, but Yugi brushes him off and walks towards Anubis.

Anubis smirks and holds out his hand for Yugi to take. Yugi smiles slowly and flicks his wrist up, slicing off Anubis' hand at the wrist with a sharp stream of shadows.

Anubis screams and holds up his now handless arm as Yugi starts to laugh. The crazed sound fills the air before it stops abruptly. Yugi brings both his arms up and shadows surround Anubis. Anubis tries to fight against them, but it isn't long until he is completely surrounded. Yugi balls his hands into fists and the shadows collapse on him, slowly suffocating Anubis. He dies slowly and as Yugi unclenches his fists and lets his arms fall to his sides, Anubis is no longer there.

There is a silence before Bakura lets out a cheer and moves forward to clap Yugi on the shoulder, "Good to know that even with the shadows, you're still on our side, squirt."

Yugi turns his head to smirk up at Bakura, "Don't you have a hikari to look after?"

Bakura's face falls and he rushes over to where Ryou is laying. Marik joins him at Malik's side, but though both try, neither can wake up their hikaris. Yugi's smirk grows and he jerks his head up, before bringing it down, and a cage surrounds the four, with spikes pointing inward. Yugi lets out another crazed laugh as Bakura and Marik look around in shock and brings his fist up to his chest, which causes the cage to slowly get smaller, inch by inch, pressing in on the ones trapped inside.

"Yugi!" Yugi turns to Yami, not even blinking as Malik and Ryou finally wake up and start to scream. "Yes?" He grins.

"Why are you doing this?" Yami takes a step closer to Yugi, his eyes flitting to watch as Dark Necrofear and Masked Beast Des Gaurdius both try to break through the cage from the outside.

Yugi shrugs and the shadows in his eyes dance, "Because it's fun."

Yami scowls and the Dark Magician appears next to him, "Please stop this Yugi."

"Or what? You'll attack your own hikari? What kind of person does that make you, _mou hitori no boku_?" Yugi spits out the nickname, and Yami knows there is nothing left of the Yugi he knew.

"You aren't my aibou." Yami watches as Yugi summons the Silent Magician LV 8, and notices the differences in his appearance, the white robe now black and the blue that used to decorate an ugly shade of purple. The Silent Magician sneers at the Dark Magician and steps forward, ready to battle.

"Then who am I, Yami?" Yugi watches in disinterest as the two duel monsters fight each other, noticing that Silent Magician is gaining the upper hand.

"I don't know, but I'm going to defeat you and get the real Yugi back." Yami resummons his scimitar, but notices how the edges are slightly faded, his magic is weakening and fading.

"You know that I will beat you now like I did at the Ceremonial Duel. If only you'll stay dead this time." Yugi does not notice the sword in Yami's hand, instead turning to watch the slowly shrinking cage with a bored eye.

Yami takes this as a chance to attack and lunges forward, only to be blocked by crossed double broadswords. Yugi smirks and spins, the swords set in a stance that had Yami backing up each time the swords clash with his own.

* * *

The duel monsters that Bakura and Marik summoned had given up and stand beside the cage, watching helplessly, before they fade back into the shadows. Ryou is sitting on Bakura's lap, burying his head into Bakura's chest, gripping onto his shirt. Bakura resigns to glaring out between the bars, trying not to notice the slow moving spikes and the two making out right next to him. Marik was on top of Malik, pinning him down in a fierce kiss that has Malik panting for breath.

Marik pulls up and starts to kiss down Malik's neckline and sucks gently on it. "Just so you…oh Ra Marik!..." Malik arches his back as Marik finds a tender spot on Malik's neck, smirking as he bites down on it softly. "…so you know…" Malik closes his eyes and tries to collect his thoughts, "…I love you."

Marik immediately stops, his wandering hands pausing right before they would have found their way underneath Malik's shirt. He looks up to meet Malik's eyes and watches as clouded lilac eyes open to meet his. Malik begins to catch his breath and blinks for a minute when he realizes that Marik hadn't responded, "Oh, shit! I totally just ruined the mood! Shit, shit, shit!"

"Ra damn it! There was no mood to begin with!" Bakura bursts out, shifting to glare at the two platinum blondes, but not so much that Ryou had to move, "We are about to be _skewered_ by giant thorns! And all you two can think about is making out!"

Marik grins at Bakura, choosing to ignore the fact that Malik had slid out from under him and had wrapped his arms around himself, "You're just jealous."

"Why the hell would I be jealous of you?" Ryou flinches at the loudness of Bakura's voice and Bakura involuntarily wraps an arm around him.

Marik smirks and grabs onto Malik's arm, pulling him into his chest, "Because I'm going to get some and you aren't, have you noticed how slow these things are moving? We've got awhile, at least until Yugi decides to speed up the pace when he is less distracted."

Bakura just growls and goes back to staring at the cage in front of him. Marik's smirk widens and he glances down to see Malik fiddling with his fingers. The smirk softens into a small smile and he lifts Malik's chin up to look into his eyes. He pulls Malik into a kiss, almost immediately pressing his tongue against Malik's lips. Malik is hesitant but slowly opens his mouth and lets his eyes flutter close as they battle each other with their tongues. As they pull apart for some much needed air, Marik places a gentle kiss on Malik's forehead, "Just so you know, I love you too."

Bakura watches in disgust as Malik pushes Marik down, flipping so that they were closer to the middle of the cage, but closer to Bakura and Ryou as well. Bakura rolls his eyes and scoffs as the two begin to make out again. 'Idiots. In a time like this, they're making out! Not that I wouldn't mind doing that with Rabbit…No! He's sick, you dolt! He wouldn't want to do that!'

"Ba-Bakura?" Ryou speaks softly, a blush on his cheeks, a combination from the noises he hears Malik and Marik making and the slight fever he knows he has.

Bakura grunts and nods his head in acknowledgement.

"Um…" Ryou bites his lip and looks down.

"What is it, yadonushi?" It came out more annoyed than he had originally planned and Ryou lets his head fall back down.

"Nothing."

Bakura grips Ryou's chin and lifts up his head, "If it's nothing then tell me what you were going to say."

Ryou doesn't meet Bakura's eye, instead choosing to stare at the cage in the corner of his eye, "Do you-Do you like me, Bakura?"

Bakura loosens his grip on Ryou's chin in surprise and pauses before he opens his mouth to reply, but Ryou beats him to it. Moving off Bakura's lap to sit beside him with his arms wrapped around himself, Ryou mumbles, "Never mind."

Bakura glances at Ryou, then at the still kissing Marik and Malik (Marik is back on top), then at the creeping cage, before looking back at a dejected Ryou. 'Am I the only _fucking _person who is worried about getting crushed by this fucking cage?'

Bakura sighs and grabs Ryou's arm, roughly pulling him back on his lap. "I liked you here, Ryou" Ryou's blush deepens and he nods his head.

Bakura scowls and looks forward, not looking at Ryou as he forces out, "Yes."

Ryou blinks and looks at Bakura, noticing in shock the light blush accompanying the scowl on his face, "What?"

"Yes, okay? I…like you." The scowl and the blush deepen.

Ryou blinks again before a huge smile breaks out on his face. "Kay."

"_Kay_? That's all you-" Bakura is cut off as Ryou leans upward to press a kiss on his lips.

The kiss is innocent and sweet and ends all too quickly for Bakura. He smirks down at his blushing hikari and pulls Ryou back into a deeper kiss. 'I get why no one wants to focus on that damn cage now…I'd much rather be doing this.'

Ryou moans as Bakura brushes his tongue against his lips, and opens immediately. Bakura growls and grips Ryou's hips, pulling Ryou closer to him and earning a small squeak from Ryou. Bakura explores the inside of Ryou's mouth and opens the eyes he hadn't thought he had closed as Ryou meets his tongue with equal force. Ryou looks at Bakura through half-lidded eyes and feels his face go red. Bakura crushes his lips against Ryou and just as Ryou is about to respond to it, he feels a small jerk in his stomach. He tries to ignore it, but that little jerk grows into a very familiar tug, and he pushes away from Bakura to kneel on his hands and knees with one arm over his mouth.

Bakura looks at Ryou in confusion, "If you didn't like it, all you had to do was say so."

Malik gasps as he feels a cold hand slip into his pants, "Ma-arik. Really? Here?"

Marik smirks and bites down gently on Malik's neck, getting a moan in response, "You don't want to?"

Malik doesn't answer, but Marik gets one when he feels a hand unbuckle his pants and reach inside. "Tsk, tsk. Someone's being a naughty-" Marik lets out a hiss when Malik twists his hand.

Malik pushes Marik back, and ends up on top. "My turn."

Marik looks at Malik with lust-filled eyes and the smirk grows, before he has to swallow roughly when Malik pushes down to his base. Marik takes out his hand, and Malik tries not to frown at the absence, and grips onto Malik's hips with both hands. Malik gently drags a nail on the underside of his yami, trying to remember what Marik did to make him feel pleasure. Marik breathes out a moan and lets his head fall back, and Malik looks in shock as his yami does. He gains a very unhikari-like smirk and leans forward to nibble at Marik's ear, all the while sliding his hand up and down, "Who knew you'd be so…" Malik trails his tongue up Marik's ear, "loud."

"Damn it, Malik." Marik is panting by now and jerks his hips up, "Go faster."

Malik sits up, both of them moaning as their erections brush against one another, and grips harder. "You want me to go faster, Marik?" He purposely drags his hand up at a snail pace, stopping Marik's head and fiddling with it.

Marik jerks his hips again, "Ra! Yes!"

Malik smirks again, but it fades when he hears a strangled sob. He pauses and looks over to Ryou and Bakura, to see Ryou on his hands and knees shaking his head franticly and Bakura standing over him, with a hand on Ryou's shoulder.

Malik lets go of Marik and kneels, since the cage had gotten so low that he couldn't stand anymore, and makes to move over to Ryou, but a hand on his arm stops him. Malik turns to see a very lustful gaze, "Where do you think you're going?"

Malik jerks his head over his shoulder, "Something's wrong with Ryou."

"And what are we going to do about…" He makes a gesture to the way both their pants are obviously tented, "this?"

Malik glares at Marik, "You are male, you should know how to hide it. Ryou needs me and I'm going."

Marik stares at the crawling Malik and curses under his breath before zipping up his pants. "Damn hikari. Damn his hands. Damn this stupid motherfucking cage. Damn it all." He is still muttering when he reaches Bakura and Ryou, and Malik gives a look that tells him to shut up before he looks back to Ryou.

"Ryou, are you alright?"

Ryou nods, not moving the hand from his mouth, keeping it in front of it as he talks, "Yeah, I just-" he clamps down on his mouth again and jerks his body forward, in a telling sign of what's to come.

Malik's eyes widen, "Okay, Marik move out from in front of Ryou…Ryou, can you crawl?"

Ryou starts to nod his head, before he franticly shakes it as the thought of moving makes his stomach twist and turn.

Malik nods and goes to rubbing in between Ryou's shoulders, "It's alright, you can do it."

Bakura looks between Ryou and Malik in confusion, "Do what?"

At that moment, Ryou can't hold it in anymore and leans forward to starts puking on the ground in front of him. Bakura's reaction is immediate, he pushes Malik from Ryou's side and takes his place, grabbing his hair in one hand and rubbing circles as Malik did on Ryou's back.

Ryou's body shudders as he gives a final retch, and Bakura pulls Ryou onto his lap before he can collapse in the small circle that had gathered beneath.

Marik looks on with a slight look of disgust on his face before he looks around to see that there is no room left in the cage to move away from the blood. "Uh…two things. One, did anyone else notice that it was mostly blood and spit that Ryou just threw up? And two, that we have no room left in the cage?"

Bakura nods his head and continues to rub Ryou's back as he starts to sob in his chest and Malik grabs hold of Marik's hand. 'Well, this life was fun while it lasted…' Marik grabs Malik in a similar position to Bakura, covering Malik with his own body so that he would be hit first. Bakura and Marik watch as the spikes come closer and closer, inching across the floor.

"Look out!" The four prisoners of the cage look up at Yami's voice, and just as the first of the spikes starts to poke at the two yamis, they see a huge ball of swirling shadow magic approaching the cage.

* * *

Yami keeps backing up, avoiding the swirling swords that are coming closer and closer to striking home. Even though he knows it wasn't really Yugi attacking him, he can't find himself able to strike back. "You can't defend forever!" Yugi yells at Yami, swinging in a side blow before going back to twirling the swords.

Yami winces as luck allows only the blunt side of the sword to hit him, but he still feels blood well up on his right side. Out of the corner of his eye he can see the Dark Magician beginning to be overpowered and by the flickering he can see in his sword, and the weakness he feels in his body, he knows he won't be able to hold up much longer.

Yami ducks to right, dropping into a roll before jumping out of it to sprint behind Yugi. "I don't have to!" Yami blocks out all the guilt he is feeling and brings his sword down just as Yugi is reacting, and strikes on his left arm. Yugi screams and drops the sword in that hand as black blood drips down his arm. Yugi sets a glare against Yami and attacks with new ferocity. "You'll pay for that, Yami!" Yami winces as one of Yugi's strikes hits his left arm, the sword passing right through his own scimitar. He drops to his knees as he feels Yugi's Silent Magician give the final blow to his Dark Magician, and his sword fades out of existence. Yugi smirks and holds his sword steady at the base of Yami's throat, making Yami lift his head up to look at Yugi. Yugi lets out a crazed laugh and tosses the sword to the side, and it disappeared before it even touched the ground.

"I want to kill you with the very magic you tried to keep from me." He snarls and raises his hands, starting to form a ball of shadows.

"Yugi…" Yami gains a pained expression, "I was trying to protect you from these shadows, so that something like this wouldn't happen."

The ball in Yugi's hands continues to grow in size, "Something like _this_? Please, this is the best thing that has happened to me since the Ceremonial Duel."

Yami winces at that low blow before speaking again, trying to convince Yugi out of this, but too tired to even move away, the drag in his bones from summoning to much shadow magic leaving him drained, "You're drunk on power, Yugi. You're going to be consumed by your own magic if you keep up like this. Think of Malik and Ryou, how much you are hurting them right now. And Grandpa, would he want you to act like this, aibou?"

Something flashes in Yugi's eyes but it is gone in an instant, "Don't call me that!" Yugi launches the now enormous ball of shadows at Yami, but he finds some last ounce of strength to throw himself on the ground, causing the ball to go straight over him. Yami turns his head to see where the ball landed, his eyes widening at seeing it still flying and heading straight towards a huddled Bakura and Marik, growing in size as it traveled to them.

Yami yells, "Look out!" and watches as all four look up. Bakura's and Marik's eyes widen and they turn their hikaris back into their chests. Yami feels a sense of helplessness wash over him as he starts to see tendrils of blood drip down both the yamis' arms from the cage before they are completely hidden from view by the enormity of the ball.

* * *

**SW: Yay! Another chapter done!**

**Ryou: Are we gonna die SW?**

**Bakura: We better not.**

**SW: I don't know yet. I haven't written that part. But don't worry! If I decide they will die I'll tell you.**

**Marik: Oh wow. Thanks. That puts my heart at ease.**

**Malik: Please, you know she won't be able to kill us anyway.**

**SW: Hey!...So?**

**Yami: Let 'em die, it's not like they're important characters anyway.**

**Yugi: *hits Yami on top of head* Yami!**

**Yami: What! You know it's true!**

**Yugi: It is not! Everyone is equally important in this story!**

**SW: Ooook! Please please please please please please please please (my spellcheck on my laptop is going crazy with all the pleases I'm using [stupid Word]) PLEASE REVIEW!**


	16. At the End of a Battle

**SW: Okay, so now I'm honestly confused as to how many more chapters this is going to be…my fingers just keep typing and words keep flowing, so I guess I'll keep going til they stop!**

**Ryou: Brilliant idea!**

**Bakura: Yeah, if by brilliant you mean stupid.**

**SW: *grumble about stupid yamis* I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh…..**

**Yugi: Thank you to MetTheRealWorld and yamistar22 for reviewing! Please enjoy!**

/Yami to Yugi/

\Yugi to Yami\

/Bakura to Ryou/

\\Ryou to Bakura\\

/**Marik to Malik**/

\**Malik to Marik**\

* * *

As soon as Ryou first caught sight of the attack, he turned back into Bakura's chest. Ryou tenses and grips Bakura's shirt, waiting for the impact of the ball of shadows he knows is coming. Five seconds…ten seconds…thirty…after a minute of nothing he looks up and sees the look of astonishment on Bakura's face.

Ryou turns around to look at what he's staring at and feels his mouth unhinged. There standing in front of him with his back to the shadows that are impacting against him is…well, a man, but he has the head of a bird and a pharaoh's crown on his head. The man catches Ryou's eye and winks, looking a little weird on the bird face. Bakura wraps an arm around Ryou's waist, and even though he isn't looking at him, Ryou can feel Bakura scowling. He giggles at the thought of a jealous Bakura and the man smirks, thinking it was for him. The attack eventually stops and the man stands up and waves a hand, the cage disappearing in a minute. He offers a hand to Ryou, who graciously takes it to stand up, not realizing what it must have looked like to Bakura. He immediately lets go after he is standing, and Bakura stands up and wraps an arm around him, not breaking the glare he has set on the man who had helped him stand up.

Glancing around to see that Marik and Malik are now standing as well, he notices something. "Our wounds are all healed…how?"

Bakura scowls again and the man laughs, "That is the magic of a god, little Ryou. We deemed you worthy to be healed, and you were." He reaches out and touches the tip of Ryou's nose, ignoring Ryou's blush and the glare from Bakura. "Even your little sickness that had your yami so worried."

Ryou takes a deep breath, surprised to find that he actually could without dissolving into coughs. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, cute one." The man gives a low bow and Ryou's face blooms into a full-on blush.

"So you're a god?" Ryou asks timidly, watching as Marik and Malik stood off to the side, staring at something behind the man.

"Yes. My name is Horus, god of the heavens. I am joined by my fellow rulers, Ra and Osiris, god of the sun and god of the dead."

"Oh." Ryou couldn't think of anything else to say. Sure he had heard of Egyptian gods, but he had never put much thought into remembering them…which was kind of ironic considering who he had fallen in love with and who his friends were.

Horus smirks, obviously pleased to have left the boy speechless. "I am the youngest of the three, but I assure you, that does not mean I am the weakest." He is obviously boasting, and Ryou caught the vibe that he is a little full of himself.

/Of course he is. He is the haughtiest of all gods./ Ryou jerks as Bakura spoke in his mind, and glances up in surprise, ignoring the bitter tone of voice he had heard.

"Our mind links! They're back!" Malik looks at them as Ryou shouts, before he jerks as well and whips his head around to Marik. Malik lets out a laugh and Marik is tackled to the ground before he can react fully, obviously talking to each other as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I did say you were healed, correct? Gods do not do only half of a job, Ryou." Horus blinks as Ryou throws himself around his waist, not caring that it probably isn't something you do to a god.

"Thank you!" He lets go and runs back to Bakura, hugging him too. \\I love you, Bakura!\\.

/Rabbit…/ Ignoring the shocked tone of Bakura's voice, Ryou grabs a hold of Bakura's hand. He moves to go celebrate with Yugi before remembering where they are. His face falls and he walks around Horus to see one man standing in front of a kneeling Yami and the other before an unconscious Yugi.

* * *

Malik watches as a god appears in front of them, protecting them from the shadow magic. He gasps as he recognizes the man. 'Horus himself! And he is protecting us!'

As soon as the shadows had run out and Horus had removed the cage, Malik is standing, ignoring the leering look that Horus had given him. He looks for Yugi and finds him, glaring a hole into Horus' back. Yugi turns his gaze to Malik and he flinches at the harshness of it. Yugi's eyes are almost completely black, even the whites seem to be tinted. Yugi smirks, but Malik focuses on something behind him, Yami kneeling on the ground before two more gods. 'Holy mother of Ra! It's, well…Ra!' Malik's mind goes numb for a moment and Marik grasps his arm, knowing that he would need a steadying hand. Feeling someone looking at them, Osiris and Ra look up and smile softly at the young hikari. Malik can only watch loose-jawed as Osiris left Ra in front Yami to walk up behind Yugi.

Yugi whips his head around to face the god.

"Our mind links! They're back!" Ryou's shout pulls his attention away from Yugi and it takes him a moment to process what he had said.

/**Malik-pretty**/

Malik jerks around to face a smirking Marik. He smiles broadly and launches himself forward, wrapping his arms around Marik's waist. Marik falls backwards, but he makes sure to take the force of the fall fully, so that Malik would not be hurt.

\**Marik! It's back!**\ Malik looks up from Marik's chest to stare into his red-lilac eyes.

/**I know, Malik.**/ Marik lets a small smile grace his face at the happiness his hikari is showing, glad to see he isn't in any pain.

Malik frowns as that thought drifts across the link. \**Oh yeah…how come I'm not hurting?**\ He shifts his body and Marik feels his eyes narrow when he tests his lower back.

/**Another gift from the gods would be my guess.**/

Malik nods before he pauses. \**Another?**\ He thinks, tilting his head to the side.

Marik smiles, brushing his nose against Malik's, /**The first being you, of course.**/ Marik only hoped that Bakura wouldn't see him acting soft, he would never let it go.

Malik blushes and hits Marik on the arm lightly, missing the last thought. \**Stop it!**\

Marik smirks and cants his hips up lightly, and relishes in the small gasp Malik gives as he is reminded of the position they are in. /**I mean it.**/

Blushing harder, Malik stands up and Marik frowns at his hikari's absence. Malik reaches a hand down to Marik who grabs it and pulls himself up, keeping a firm grip on the offered hand so Malik wouldn't let go.

Malik blinks at the sight that meets them. A scowling Bakura and a blushing Ryou stand next to Yami who is comforting a distraught Yugi, who seems to be back to normal. All four stand in front of Horus, who is standing with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face, Osiris, and Ra, both of whom had their hands behind their backs and are looking at the six with small smiles on their faces.

* * *

Yami stares in shock as Yugi screams in outrage when his attack is stopped by someone. He sees a flash of light and turns to see Osiris and Ra in front of him. The shocked Yami automatically drops to his knees and bows his head, hoping that it isn't a god that Yugi is yelling at.

"Rise, Pharaoh Atemu, there is no need for statuses here in the shadow realm." He hears Ra speak and looks up to see Osiris walk over to Yugi.

He follows the god's progress nervously, watching the shadows rebel around Yugi as he got closer.

"Your hikari will be fine, young Yami." Ra reassures Yami and claps him on the shoulder as Yugi whips his head around and glares at the blue-skinned god in front of him.

Osiris spreads his arms in a way to show he means no harm and Yugi rolls his eyes, "Please. You are just like Yami, you want to take away my power and keep it for yourself." He goes into a battle pose. "Well, I'm not going to let that happen!" He launches himself at Osiris and Yami starts forward, but the hand Ra had placed on his shoulder keeps him still.

Osiris merely shakes his head and dodges the attack, before reaching forward with one finger to press it on his forehead. Yugi lets out a scream as his body stiffens, before collapses on the ground. This time, Ra allows Yami to run forward, and he reaches Yugi's side in a matter of seconds.

"Yugi?" Yami asks softly, scared that he would get no answer. "Can you hear me?"

Yugi scrunches his nose and blinks his eyes open, the violet orbs now completely shadow free. "Y-Yami?"

Yami nods his head and pulls Yugi up into a hug, "I thought I had lost you." He whispers into his hikari's shoulder.

"Why would you think that?" the innocence in Yugi's voice causes Yami to look up at his face.

"Do you not remember anything at all?"

"Remember what, Yami? You're starting to scare me." Yami looks up to Osiris and sees him slowly shake his head, telling Yami everything he needed to know.

"You were…you were taken over by the shadows, Yugi."

Yugi pales, "So that's what happened…"

"What do you mean, aibou?"

"After I blacked out, when Anubis was in front of you…what did I do?" the frightened sound of Yugi's voice convinces Yami that he will never tell the story to him if he could help it.

"Nothing that can't be fixed."

Tears prick in Yugi's eyes. "It was bad wasn't it? Did I hurt anyone? Did I hurt you?" the last sentence is a whisper, and Yami knows Yugi would be horrified if he found out the truth.

"It isn't important anymore. You're back now and that's all that matters."

Yugi buries his head in Yami's shoulder as he avoids answering questions for a second time, and he knows he doesn't really want to hear. He takes a deep breath and tries to stop the tears that are flowing down his face as he hears Bakura and Ryou approaching.

He wipes his eyes and looks up, trying not to widen his eyes at the man with a bird head walking closely behind Ryou, who is attached at the hip to Bakura.

"Is that…"

"Horus? Yeah, they came and saved us." Yami stands, taking Yugi with him.

Yugi reluctantly stands and mumbles to himself, "From _me_." But it is loud enough that Yami hears it, so before Yami can question it, he speaks to Ryou and Bakura. "I'm sorry."

Bakura just shrugs, while Ryou smiles and walks over to hug Yugi, "We were worried about you, we knew that you weren't really, well, you."

They stand next to Yami and Yugi as the three gods gather in front of them. Yugi takes in the blush Ryou has as Horus leers at him, plus the grumpy mood that Bakura had, and is able to put two and two together. He turns to Ra, bowing slightly, not sure of what he is doing. "What about Malik and Marik?"

"I believe they are having a moment." Ra states and Osiris chuckles slightly, watching the two rise to join the group. "We shall wait on what we have to say until they join us."

Malik and Marik walk over holding hands, a huge smile on Malik's face and a smirk on Marik's, and Malik speaks up, "What did we miss?"

"Nothing at all, young hikari." Osiris starts, his weathered voice having a calming effect on the six listening. "We shall banish the shadow realm now."

Ra lifts up his hand, and a burst of yellow light pours out of his body. "Shadows! Be gone!"

Ryou and Yugi blink as the shadows fade and the golden room comes in its place. While Malik feels disoriented, his smile never falters now that he can feel the constant presence of his yami. Once all the shadows had faded, Osiris looks at the six boys in front of him. "We wish to know what has occurred here."

Horus speaks up, a slight tone of amazement in his voice, "Yes, we return from a meeting to find that the shadow realm had been summoned in a place where it is forbidden, that Anubis had been banished to one of the lowest levels of the Duat, and one of the pure hikaris had been tainted by the shadows and was slowly destroying his friends."

Yugi blushes and ducks his head, and after mumbling a sorry, he starts the tale, "It started when Eboni and Sheut kidnapped Ryou and I-"

"Eboni and Sheut? They were the hand servants to Anubis, are they not?" Ra asks, and Osiris nods his head.

Ryou continues, "Yes, well, they, um, they tor-tortured us and lured the rest of the group here, before capturing Malik and forcing Yami, Bakura, and Marik to find us in a maze-"

"Simple hand servants would not have been able to overpower a yami, how did they force three to do anything?" Osiris speaks, appearing confused as to the possibility that the yamis would allow anything to happen to their hikaris without proper reparation.

"One, they had our hikaris," Marik sneers at the thought of someone taking his hikari and lets go of his hand to wrap his arm around Malik's waist, "and two, they had put a spell on us that prevented the calling of the shadows without losing our minds."

Osiris nods and Malik picks up where Ryou left off, "Once they found us, though Marik had already gone a little crazy from the spell," Malik tries to hold in a shiver, and Marik tightens his grip on Malik's waist, "we were sent here and they challenged Marik, Bakura, and Yami to a shadow game-"

"But if you were prevented from using the shadows how could you participate?" Horus interrupts, and Bakura scowls at him.

"If you would listen instead of interrupting every other sentence, then you would know!"

Everyone stares as Bakura blows up at a god, while Ryou just smiles politely and continues, "I think that was why they challenged them. If they didn't have power over the shadows, then there was no way they could win, right?"

Marik smirks, "They obviously didn't count on our hikaris showing up, which allowed us to win."

"How is that possible? Hikaris have no power in the Shadow Realm." Bakura rolls his eyes as Horus interrupts again, which earns a glare from the god.

Marik shines with pride as he is able to explain, "Malik saw me in front of Eboni and walked forward and beat his ass," the gods frown as Marik swears and Malik elbows him the stomach with a blush on his face before he continues, "and then I was able to force him to transfer the shadow spell from me to someone else."

Ra nods, "Which I assume was Yugi, due to the fact that he had shadow powers when we arrived."

Yugi bites his lip and nods, "I had run to Yami, but he was in front of me, so I couldn't see what Anubis was doing before I blacked out, I think I screamed, but other than that, there is nothing I remember until Osiris touched my forehead."

Ryou picks up, "I had fainted because I had gotten the Mystical Elf summoned," he shrugs at the shocked looks from everyone but Malik and Yugi, "don't ask me how, I don't know. And when I woke up, Bakura was" a blush starts to form on his face, "kissing me, and then Yugi screamed and we followed Marik and Malik to his side."

Bakura looks sideways at Ryou, "Don't you remember what Sheut had done to you?"

Ignoring the curious glances from everyone around them, Ryou turns to Bakura, "What do you mean?"

Bakura scowls and makes his lips into a thin line, "Nothing."

Narrowing his eyes, Ryou waits until Yami starts explaining what had happened up until the gods showed up before he talks to Bakura. He bites his lip, trying to think of a way to get Bakura to tell him, and his eyes light up as he gains a mischievous smile. Ryou goes on his tiptoes and nibbles a little on the lobe of Bakura's ear, relishing in the shaky breath his yami has to take. He smirks and drags his tongue up the edge of Bakura's ear and jerks a little when Bakura's hand reaches out to grip Ryou's wrist, a warning of what would happen if he continues. Speaking in a breathy voice that Yugi had once described as a "bedroom voice", he says, "You're going to tell me later, okay?" After he had said that, he steps back and turns to Yami as he says, "…and that brings us to when you showed up."

Bakura blinks as his hikari acts like nothing just happened, like he hadn't tested his willpower before the gods. 'You are a lot to handle, Rabbit.'

Ryou smiles, not turning to Bakura, \\I heard that\\

Bakura smirks, remembering the mind link, /Well that's too bad, because I was just about to think about what I would do to you when we got home./

* * *

Yugi stares at his feet and blinks back tears as Yami describes what he had done when he was overtaken by the shadows. /I'm sorry you had to hear this, aibou/

Yugi's body jerks and he lifts his head in shock to stare at Yami, recognizing the voice, \We have our mind links back!\

/Yes, I was wondering when you would notice. / How Yami accomplished talking through the mind link and to someone else at the same time, Yugi could never know, but he is glad he could. Looking around, seeing Bakura smirking with a red-faced Ryou next to him and grinning Malik and Marik, \Does everyone else know?\

/Yeah, the gods gave it back to us when they healed us all./

Yugi smiles brightly and sends the joy and happiness he is feeling through the link, only to meet with equal happiness and love, \I love you, Yami\

/And I you, aibou/

"Very well, we shall deal with Anubis, he will not harm you again. But yamis, I believe we need to speak about the conditions that were made before you were allowed back into the living." Osiris speaks as Yami finishes talking, and Bakura, Marik, and Yami all visibly deflate.

Yugi, Ryou, and Malik all look at their yamis in confusion before Horus starts talking, "You have passed the first one, no harm has come to the hikaris, not that I'm shocked."

"You did defeat the evil, though we are all saddened that it was one of the gods that you had to defeat." Osiris continues, before looking to Ra.

Ra closes his eyes in contemplation before opening them to stare at the downtrodden yamis and anxious hikaris. "I believe the last condition was that you must all return to the afterlife now."

There is a moment of shocked silence before Malik yells out. "No! We just got them back! You can't take them away now!" Malik steps forward as if to fight, but a hand holding onto his stops him, and he looks into the sad eyes of Marik before turning to look at Ryou and Yugi.

Ryou swallows and timidly looks at the three before him. "I know that they belong in the afterlife…but you can't take them away. Not after we have just gotten used to them being here."

Yugi nods and stares up determinedly, "You may think that it won't affect anyone if they leave, but it will, because us three, Ryou, Malik, and I…" Yugi's voice drops down to a soft whisper. "we love them."

Ra smiles at the six unhappy people in front of him, "You did not allow me to finish. There is a way that the yamis may remain in the world of the living."

* * *

**SW: Holy mother of Ra! That took forever!**

**Malik: Wow, you finished late.**

**SW: I know! I tried so hard to keep on schedule but a lot has been happening and I literally finished this an hour ago. Then I had to proofread it before I could turn it in, so I'm REALLY sorry if this chapter sucks.**

**Bakura: They all suck.**

**SW: Do not!...maybe**

**Ryou: *blush* Um…what was Bakura telling me that made me blush?**

**Bakura: Yeah, I wanna know too.**

**SW: *shrug* I think I'll let your perverted mind decide.**

**Bakura: *smirk***

**SW: Review!**


	17. Home

**SW: …**

**Yugi: What is it?**

**SW: I've been in the car for around 10 hours…with 3 more to go.**

**Marik: Then why are you writing? Don't you not want your 'rents to find out?**

**SW: -.-" Yeah, they wouldn't really 'approve' of me writing yaoi…very strict Roman Catholics. And my brothers and sister would most definitely make fun of me for liking Yu-Gi-Oh! or anime in general. Actually, my sister already does on the anime part.**

**Malik: So explain?**

**SW: One, I'm bored. Two, everyone but my dad (who's driving) is sleeping and I'm not tired.**

***sigh* I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Enjoy my story!**

**Thank you to Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san for reviewing!**

* * *

Yugi's eyes immediately light up with hope, "Really?"

Osiris nods with a light smile on his face, "Yes, little hikari. It was a condition set when we allowed the yamis to return, but we did not tell them-"

"Why the hell would you do that?" Bakura bursts out, only to be hit on the head by Ryou. "Stop it, 'Kura."

Marik sniggers, earning a glare from Bakura. "I'm sorry, but it's hilarious. Isn't it, _'Kura_?"

Bakura grunts and Osiris picks up where he left off, "-because it would only distract you from your real purpose of destroying the evil, since you would be focusing on gaining up the courage to do so. Would you like to know the way?"

Immediately, there are six consecutive nodding heads. Horus gains a smug smile, "Very well. We believe that most of you have already completed this, but to keep certain people from being embarrassed," Horus gives a pointed look to Bakura, "we will do each ceremony separately."

Ra steps forward and clears his throat. "Yugi, Yami, you will be first."

The two step forward, holding hands and beginning to glow blue. Yugi turns to wave at his friends just before they disappear.

"Malik and Marik, you are next." Osiris beckons the blondes forward and Marik sticks his tongue out as he passes Bakura before they disappear in the same way that Yami and Yugi.

Horus smirks at the remaining two. "Alright, that means you're coming with me."

Bakura snorts and steps forward, grabbing Ryou's hand and pulling him until they stand in front of Horus.

* * *

Yugi looks around as the golden throne room disappears, fading until there is nothing but blue all around him. Looking down, Yugi yelps and grips Yami's hand. There was no floor! Yugi blinks and moves closer to Yami. They aren't standing on ground! He looks up as Ra starts talking, trying to get used to floating in space.

"There is one way that our powers will allow Yami to return."

"Yes, what is it?" Yami asks, floating stiffly since he couldn't feel where he is standing.

"You must proclaim your love to each other."

There is a moment of stunned silence at the briskness that statement is made with before Yugi breaks out into a huge smile. "That's it? Really?" Ra nods his head.

Yami smirks, "Well that's easy enough."

Yugi's grin widens, "Hey, Yami."

"Yes, aibou?"

"I love you." The blue brightens all around them and Ra's image begins to fade, becoming almost see-through.

"I love you as well, Yugi."

A shiver runs down Yugi's spine, and the blue becomes blinding. He closes his eyes and turns his face into Yami's chest, doing anything to darken the searing light against his eyelids. Yugi feels a falling sensation and a moment later he lands on something that grunts.

"Yugi…"

Blinking his eyes open and lifting his head, Yugi finds himself on top of Yami on his bed. At home. Releasing a scream, that did NOT sound girlish, Yugi jumps off Yami and stands in the middle of the room, looking at the place he had missed so much. Turning back to a smiling Yami, he launches himself at his other half, successfully sending him back on the bed.

Yami blinks in shock as Yugi pushes his lips on his, and growls when he feels a tongue that is becoming increasingly familiar press against his lips. He flips Yugi over and presses against him, nipping lightly on his aibou's lower lip before starting a war with their tongues. Yami smirks as Yugi relinquishes and allows him to enter his mouth. The dark strokes the back of Yugi's teeth, and Yugi moans and wraps his arms around the man in front of him.

There is a load thud that comes from downstairs followed by some vivid swearing. Yugi gasps and starts to get up as Yami groans. "Ignore it, aibou." He nibbles on the neck in front of him and can see Yugi's decision waver. Nipping on an earlobe, Yami reaches down to grip Yugi's leg to force him back on the bed, but is met with air as the ear pulls away from his mouth.

"Come on." Yugi is already out the door, ignoring the pleading look from the man on the bed. "It could be Grandpa."

Yami mumbles and pulls himself off the bed to follow Yugi down the stairs to the living room. "I doubt Grandpa would be swearing that much."

He runs right into a halted Yugi at the end of the stairs. "What-" At the sight before him, he starts cracking up.

* * *

Malik grins up at a smiling Osiris, not unlike Yugi with Ra, as Marik nuzzles his neck. "That's not so hard. Love you, Marik."

"Marik loves Malik-pretty, too."

Malik stiffens as the purple world around them brightens, and Marik starts to cackle. Malik frowns and ignores the fading god to turn and smack Marik on the arm, hard.

Marik keeps cackling, "I'm sorry!...Haha!...You should've…should've seen your face!"

"Never scare me like that again! I'm going to kill you!"

Just as the world becomes too bright to see anything and Osiris is just barely in view, Malik hears the amused whisper from the aged god, "Enjoy your new life, you two."

The world suddenly goes black and Marik's cackling fades. Malik tumbles in the complete darkness for a moment, in too much of a shock to even think about screaming. He automatically reaches for Marik and starts to panic when he feels nothing there. The darkness only lasts for a few more seconds and the scream that had started to build up comes out as a startled squeak as he lands on something hard. He hears a pained grunt from beneath him, and then he's tumbling again, blinking past the spots in his eyes to try and see where he is.

Suddenly, he feels a hand throw him sideways and lands with an 'oomph' on his butt beside what he now sees as a toppled couch.

"Damn it." He hears a muffled voice beside him, and looks down to see a very familiar tanned hand coming out from under the couch.

"Fuck! Marik, why the hell would you do that? Shit! Give me a moment, I'll get the couch off you." Just as he is starting to lift the couch he had identified as Yugi's, Malik hears footsteps on the stairs and drops the slightly raised couch suddenly in shock.

"Mother of Ra, Malik! Get this motherfucking thing off me!" Ignoring the laughing he can hear behind him, and nodding in thanks as Yugi comes to help, Malik sets the couch up right again and offers a hand to a very sore Marik.

Marik rubs his head and takes the offered hand to stand up. Once he had had enough of Malik's fussing, there is a point where it becomes annoying, after all, Marik glares at the still chuckling Yami and pulls Malik into a passionate kiss.

Malik moans immediately in response, opening his mouth readily to Marik's tongue. The two only pull apart after Yami clears his throat very insistently, and they look at the frowning yami and blushing hikari with two very similar smirks.

Yugi drops the hands from his face that were covering his eyes and Yami is just about to say something when there is a loud crash from the kitchen, followed by a very loud, startled squeak and an equally loud groan.

* * *

"You're kidding, right?"

Horus merely smirks and shakes his head as he draws the shadows from Ryou's soul. "I don't know how you got tainted by the shadows, beautiful one, but I would blame the incompetent and stuttering man over there."

Ryou giggles at the stunned look on Bakura's face, before turning back to Horus, "How did you know I was tainted?"

Horus shrugs and pulls the last strings of darkness from out of Ryou's body. "It was the only way you could have been able to summon a duel monster. Somewhere along the line you were vulnerable enough to the shadows to have some seep into your soul, probably during the time when Eboni separated you from your body."

Ryou gives an involuntary shiver and Bakura casually wraps an arm around Ryou's waist, while pretending he isn't.

"What's the way we are allowed to stay in the living?"

Ryou looks at Bakura in surprise, he hadn't expected Bakura to want to stay. He thought that after Ryou had said he loved him, Bakura would go back to the afterlife so he wouldn't have to deal with his hikari. Catching the look from said hikari, Bakura scowls and keeps his eyes focused on Horus.

'This is where it gets interesting. Of course, if I had had any of the other hikaris to deal with, I'm sure the result would be the same.' Horus thinks. "You must proclaim your love to each other, and if you don't love one another enough to do so, Bakura will return to the afterlife."

The shocked expressions on the two faces in front of him are so similar, Horus has to fight real hard to keep a laugh from coming up. This results in a twitch in his mouth, which is noticed by Bakura, who gains a deep scowl, and Ryou, who looks like he is trying to keep from giggling as well and has an interesting sparkle in his eyes.

Admiring the sparkle for a moment, Horus speaks again, "Of course, my little Ryou, if you would prefer to proclaim your love to me, I could take to the heavens with the gods." He gives a small bow to the now blushing Ryou. "They would all accept you as my husband, with your magnificent beauty, and you would be treated and served as a king beside my side." Horus did his best to push the smirk down from his face. 'No one could resist me, even if I would have preferred the Pharaoh's hikari, what was his name…Yugi! Yes, I would have preferred Yugi, but little Ryou will suit me just fine.'

"No, thank you." The crispness in the tone makes Horus blink in shock before he stares at the defiant boy in front of him.

"What?" Surely he must have heard wrong, how could anyone deny a god?

"Thank you for the offer and all, but my heart already belongs to someone else."

The world they were surrounded by starts to glow brighter and Horus feels his image before them fade a little. 'Surely little Ryou didn't mean…'

Bakura smirks up at the stunned god. "Yeah, Ryou loves me, not you, so fuck off."

"Bakura!" Ryou hits him on the top of the head.

Rubbing his head, and hating that he was about to do this, he replies, "Sorry…love."

The world around them flashes so bright that it's hard to see, but not before Bakura sees the look of absolute joy that Ryou had gained when he said that.

'Well, I guess if it makes Rabbit happy I could say it a little more often…ah fuck! I'm totally whipped.'

* * *

The group of four walks into a scene that made even the worried hikaris struggle not to laugh. Ryou is perched on the counter next to the sink, his worried eyes focused on Bakura. Bakura, on the other hand, is rubbing the small of his back, wincing in pain as he slowly stands up.

"Horus did that on purpose, I know it."

Ryou lets out a small giggle, "Or maybe he just doesn't have good aim."

"You seem to have landed just fine."

"That-Oh, hello everyone." Ryou pushes himself off the counter and brushes himself off. "I'm guessing everyone got back safe?"

Marik grumbles something about couches and Malik grins at his friend, "More or less."

Ryou nods. "That's good." He smiles as he feels a hand snake around his waist. "…So now what?"

Yugi's grandfather decides then to step in the room. "What do you mean: So now what? You've been gone for four days and you don't even tell me where you were going! Isis, Mr. Bakura, and I have been worried sick! And your teachers! They can become quite a pain in the side when you don't have an excuse as to why your child isn't at school."

Yugi visibly shrinks "Sorry, Grandpa."

Ryou and Malik both pale, each griping onto their yamis. "Isis knows?" "My father is here?"

Grandpa takes one look at Yugi's puppy-dog eyes and crumbles, "That's all right, Yugi. As long as you're safe. And you are alright?" Grandpa Solomon takes in the bloody clothes and tries to not go all protective as he sees no visible wounds. Yugi nods almost franticly and he turns to face Ryou and Malik so he wouldn't have to face those eyes anymore, and misses the triumphant smile Yugi gains, and the shocked look Yami gives Yugi. "Your sister returned yesterday morning, Malik. She is most displeased that you have been missing since Saturday."

If at all possible the tan skin on Malik's face pales even more, "What day is it?"

"Tuesday. And Ryou, your father wanted to surprise you with a visit on Sunday, imagine his surprise when you weren't there."

Ryou gulps and nods his head, "Uh, yeah. I think-I gotta…I better go see him." Before another word can be said, Ryou is out the door, with Bakura following not far behind.

"Isis is gonna kill me!" Breaking out of his shocked state, Malik races out the door behind Ryou and Bakura and drags Marik along with him.

Grandpa Solomon shakes his head the closing door and looks at the two obviously trying not to touch each other. "Professor Hawkins has invited me to have dinner with him, but given that you two are making googly eyes at each other I'm going to take it as a no and depart."

Not leaving any room for argument, Grandpa grabs his coat and walks out the door, barely registering the "Hey Gramps!" that drifts past him and into the door.

"Yug'!" Yugi looks up from being pinned against the wall by Yami to see Joey walking up from the shop. He quickly disentangles himself from Yami, but not fast enough.

"Hey, Yams! I heard you were back in town! I see you make quick work." Joey grins at the now blushing Yugi, but frowns at the bloody clothing that both are wearing. "What the hell happened to you two?"

"Language, mutt."

Joey immediately bristles and forgets the two in front of him to glare at the man who had wrapped his arms around him from behind. "I'm not a mutt!"

"Would you prefer puppy?" Seto slowly grinds into his lover's back, small enough to not be noticed by anyone looking, but definitely noticed by the person in front of him.

Yami smirks at the new arrival. "Finally got together with Joey, huh?"

Seto blinks at Yami, and then flits his gaze to Yugi, before back to Yami, his cold blue eyes revealing nothing. "Yes. I apologize, but Joey will have to talk with you at school tomorrow. Right now he has other business to deal with."

Joey smirks, "Like what?"

The CEO of Kaiba Corp. merely growls lowly in Joey's ear, before nipping lightly on his puppy's neck.

Joey takes in a deep, shaky breath. "Who's acting like the dog now?"

"Limo waiting outside." Before you could blink, Joey is down the stairs and out the door. Seto nods at the couple before him, then turns and walks out to follow Joey.

Yami and Yugi stand stunned for a minute until Yami snaps out of it first. Reaching over to trail a finger up the edge of Yugi's chin, he asks, "Back to you room?"

Yugi turns and fixes him with a gaze filled with lust and for a minute Yami is taken back by the emotion before he smirks. Yugi reaches and grips Yami's wrist, dragging him back to his room in the now empty house.

* * *

**SW: Okay…writer's block sucks.**

**Malik: I know! This one time I was writ-**

**Marik: You write?**

**SW: Sure. He lets me read it sometimes. He writes the juiciest lemons ever!**

**Marik: *smirk* Really?**

**SW: *ignoring the silencing motions Malik is making* Yeah! I have no idea where he gets the ideas from.**

**Marik: *dragging Malik out of room, kissing* Guess I'll have to read 'em sometime. I could use new ideas.**

**SW: Well, bye! Wonder where they went off to.**

**Bakura: You can't be serious.**

**SW: I'm hyper. Hehe. Don't blame me! It's 2 in the morning and I can't sleep and there is still some Easter candy leftover and I'm having Peeps, but not the yellow kind, but the blue kind…is there a pink kind? I don't-*talking muffled by Bakura's hand over mouth***

**Bakura: I get it. Just review for the hyper author, get it?**

**SW: Authoress!**


	18. Trouble in Paradise

**SW: Alrighty! I'm back!**

**Bakura: Oh really now.**

**SW: Yep! And FYI there is going to be little to no puzzleshipping in this chapter…I'm sorry!**

**Yami: Hmph.**

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but you can still enjoy my story!**

**Thank you to Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san for reviewing again! **

**Oh yeah! Since I couldn't find the name of Bakura's father anywhere, I went with Ushinatta which means lost. And if you don't like lemons ignore the stuff in bold!**

/Bakura to Ryou/

\\Ryou to Bakura\\

/**Marik to Malik**/

\**Malik to Marik**\

* * *

Ryou stands in front of his door, staring at it and dreading the moment when he would have to step through it. It wasn't that he hated his father, of course not, he loved him, it was just that whenever the man came home it brought up unwanted memories for the both of them. Ryou was willing to ignore that, so they could spend time together, but his father was not. He would spend the whole of his 'visit' holed up in his room, his office, or Amane's room. He would do his best to ignore the only family he had left. He would act as if his son didn't exist, as if he had died in the accident as well. He would-

"Are we going in or not?" Bakura's voice cuts off Ryou's thoughts and he jerks as if he had forgotten the man standing behind him.

Ryou swallows and wipes his hands on the front of his pants. "Uh, yeah. Come on." He takes a step forward, but stops again, once more staring at the door.

Bakura falters and almost runs into the boy in front of him. "Damn it, Ryou! Make up your mind! Do you want to go in or not?"

Ryou just ducks his head and fiddles with his hands. "Is it an option for me not to?"

Bakura sighs and steps around Ryou, grabbing at his wrist in the process, and drags him to the door. "Unlock it." He orders.

Ryou gives a small smile and reaches down under the mat to grab the key. He presses it into the lock and turns it, surprised not to hear the bolt slide out. "It's unlocked…" Ushinatta Bakura never left a door unlocked. It was too impractical.

Ryou walks in to the smell of pancakes, and his eyes instantly light up in surprise and happiness. Ryou's father walks in from the kitchen and stares at the two boys in front of him before smiling wide. "Ryou! Mr. Mutou called ahead and said you were coming home, so I went and made some of my pancakes that you used to love so much. He didn't say anything about a friend though?" He ends the sentence in a question, making it obvious he wants an explanation.

Ryou doesn't hesitate, so happy that his dad is acting happy that he doesn't realize what he's saying. "This is Bakura! He's my yami! He was a spirit of the Millennium Ring, you know that gift you gave me after your trip to Egypt? Yeah, that one. Anyway, he was kind of evil at first but he's changed now and came back from the afterlife. And now we like each other and I want him to stay with me."

Bakura and Ryou's father blink at the excited boy for a moment before Ushinatta gains a knowing smile. He walks forward and wraps a shocked Ryou in a hug. "Really, if you didn't want to tell me, you just had to say so. But the acting was good, maybe you should go into that, hm?" He ruffles Ryou's hair and walks back into the kitchen. "Come on in and eat whenever you two are ready!"

Bakura recovers from his shock and walks forward to stand next to a stunned Ryou. "He hugged me…Bakura?"

"Yeah, yadonushi?"

"I think my father was kidnapped by aliens." Bakura barks out a laugh and wraps an arm around Ryou's shoulder, walking with him into the kitchen.

Ryou has a happy smile as Bakura pushes him down into a chair, before taking a seat next to him on the table. The man cooking chuckles at his son's expression and sets down a large plate of strawberry and chocolate chip pancakes. Ryou's eyes go wide and he immediately digs in. the other two stare at the young man's appetite before the elder shakes his head and finishes the batch he is making to join the boys at the table.

"Ryou, when was the last time you ate properly?" The tone is joking, but Bakura think the man Ryou calls father has a point.

Ryou tries to swallow without chewing and winces as the large ball of pancakes goes down his throat. "Um, today's Tuesday right?" Forgetting that he is talking he puts another bite of pancake in his mouth and starts talking around it. "Last Fri-no…Thursday night. I think."

Bakura had been smirking at Ryou's bad manners, until he hears how long it had been since Ryou had eaten. "I mean," Ryou cuts a sideways glance to Bakura, "Eboni and Sheut would feed me a little, Sheut more than Eboni, but" He shrugs "it was never really enough."

Bakura fists his hands underneath the table and stares at his lap, anger boiling inside him. Ushinatta frowns in confusion. "Who are Eboni and Sheut? Friends of yours?"

"Not really…"

The man nods his head as if he understands and Bakura can't help but think that he didn't, not really. "All right. You mentioned before that you liked Bakura. How far does this 'liking' extend?"

Bakura smirks and looks up, speaking for the first time. "Why don't we show you?"

The gravelly voice Bakura speaks in sends shivers down Ryou's spine, and he isn't too surprised when he is pulled into a kiss. Bakura almost lets out a sigh as the taste of strawberry drifts into his mouth. It is just like his hikari to taste like that. Never mind the pancakes, he is officially making sure that they would always be full on stock with strawberries. Ryou gasps as Bakura slowly inserts his tongue in Ryou's more than yielding mouth. Bakura smirks against the reaction and pulls his hikari over onto his lap, so that Ryou is straddling him. They come apart at an embarrassed cough, but only enough so that they could breathe, their noses and foreheads still touching.

\\I love you Bakura.\\

/Yeah…Whatever./

Ryou smiles brightly and turns to face his father, blushing slightly at the disapproving glance coming from that direction. Slowly, with his head down in shame, he starts to make his way back to his seat. That is, until an arm is wrapped around his waist. "Stay and eat, Ryou. You need it." The blush grows as Bakura's lips graze his ear. He nods and settles back down, reaching over to grab the plate of pancakes closer to him, not realizing what that would do. Bakura bites back a groan as Ryou readjusts and leans to get the pancakes, and doesn't stop until Ryou had stopped moving, but by that time the inside of his cheek is already bleeding.

/Damn it, Rabbit./

Ryou smiles innocently and looks back at Bakura, taken back by the lustful stare that meets him. \\Ye-yes?\\

/Stop fucking moving./

Ryou opens his mouth a little before a small smile forms, and he slowly turns back to his father, but slides downward while doing so. \\You mean like this?\\

Ushinatta doesn't the small movements his son is making, or the bright red blush that is on his son's cheeks, or the small, muffled moans coming from the boy said son had just kissed. "Now Ryou, I understand that I may have been a little neglectful of you lately." He pointedly ignores the snort from the boy beneath Ryou. "But I was thinking that, to make it up to you, you would move back to England with me."

All movement across the table from Ryou's father halts. Then a shaky voice speaks up. "Wh-what?"

"I know you've established a life here, but there will be a new life for you in England, with me." His father starts into his argument. "I have a fairly large home on the outskirts of London, it is surrounded by forest, and I recall you liking those. And as for friends, well, some of my coworkers live nearby me and many of them have children."

Suddenly, Bakura jerks Ryou up, and after standing up and setting Ryou back down in the chair, stalks out of the room. This goes unnoticed by the man still trying to convince his son to come live with him. "There is a very prestigious school nearby the house, I think you will do well there. And Ryou, I'm getting married." There is silence that follows. "You'll have a mother again."

The man who could barely look at his son because it brought up memories of his dead wife, is getting _married_? And now, after almost no contact for three years, he wants his son to move in with him? When did this come along? /Ryou, I know how lonely you've been, and a mother could cure that. You always wanted to spend more time with your father, that I remember. If you want to go to this England…I won't stop you./ Ryou is shocked at the tone of Bakura's voice, defeated, and willing to accept that his hikari would be moving.

\\Yes, but what about you?\\ Ryou can feel tears in his eyes, and he blinks past them to look at his father, who thinks they are tears of joy. /I barely fit in with a country whose language I know, I don't believe it will work if I go with you. If you leave…/ Ryou gives a small gasp at the choked sound followed by a growl that drifts through the link. /I'll be staying here./

That makes up his mind. He rubs the tears off his face, and looks up to his father, meeting the man's eyes. "I want to thank you, father, for the offer." Ushinatta frowns at the way this is going. "But the friends I have made here I don't want to lose."

"You can still be-"

Ryou holds up a hand to stop the argument. "I love the school I have here. And this house is my home. Sure I might be a little lonely at times, but now that I've got Bakura, that won't happen anymore."

His father leans back in his chair, shocked, before he nods and stands up. "I see you feel strongly about this. My flight leaves in two hours, I was planning on taking you with me…" Ryou widens his eyes at the suddenness of the whole thing, and his father walks out of the room. "I better go pack."

As soon as Ryou's father had left, Bakura comes back in. "Why did you say no?"

Ryou shrugs and stands up to hug a very stiff Bakura. "I would've missed you too much. I love you, 'Kura."

Bakura relaxes just a smidge, and places a kiss on Ryou's head. "Yeah…whatever."

Ryou smiles.

* * *

Malik stands with his head down and his hands behind his back in the middle of Isis' small room. He had decided not to Isis about the past weekend, since it would only make her freak, well, more than she was now anyway.

"Not a single word! I come home and there is no sign of my little brother! Or of Aswad! I have to learn that he is dead secondhand! And I don't see hide or hair of you for four days! And I don't even get a call! I expected the worst! I thought you were dead! Or that Marik took you over again! I'm-"

"Marik isn't like that anymore!" The spark comes back in Malik's eyes and he lifts his head up to stare straight at Isis.

Isis frowns a little before continuing her rampage. "Be that as it may, that boy has a long was to go before he earns my trust. And I would you wouldn't be so trusting either."

"He's changed, sister! He's nice and caring and just a little perverted, but that doesn't matter, and strong and I love him!" Malik's voice gets louder and louder and he practically yells he last part. The quiet that follows is heated and neither sibling wants to yield. Malik's voice drops to a whisper, "I love him. And if you can't handle that, then we don't have to stay here."

Isis gets tears in her eyes, and she turns and walks out of the room, instead of letting her baby brother see her cry.

But Malik notices and reaches a hand out to the turned back rushing out of the room. He hurries after his sister, "Isis! Please wait."

Marik stands up from the couch he was sitting on as the two siblings walk into the living room where he was waiting. Isis doesn't spare him a glance, her long black hair trailing behind her and moving right past the boy to go to the door.

"Please, Isis. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, I'll stay." Malik passes by Marik and stops right before Isis, his back facing Marik. But the shaking in his shoulders tells Marik what's happening on his face.

Stepping forward to comfort hi crying hikari, Marik is halted by the death glare Isis sends him. She reaches forward to brush tears off Malik's face. "Oh, Malik." She blinks through her own tears before jerking back and pulling on her coat. "Odion is here." Malik gasps and stares at Isis with wide eyes. "He's setting up a place in the city. That's where I'm going." Isis holds up a hand when Malik opens his mouth to speak. "He would agree with me when it comes to trusting" her eyes slide to glare at the bystander, "him. I don't think it's best to see Odion. Wait we are used to the idea of you loving someone who caused so much hurt."

Malik winces at the disgusted tone Isis uses, and he ducks his head to hide his once again shaking shoulders as his sister turns to the door. "Goodbye, brother." Isis walks out the door and Malik falls to his knees.

Marik rushes around to face Malik, kneeling down in front of him. His heart pangs a little when Marik grabs Malik's chin and lifts it up to stare into tear-filled eyes. Malik launches himself into Marik's chest, sobbing his heart out. Marik pets his hikari's hair and rubs small circles in his back, doing his best to calm the crying boy.

"I-hic-I don't know-don't know why" Malik sniffs and lifts his head to wipe his dripping nose on his sleeve, "she would do that. You're not bad anymore."

Marik smiles sadly, "But you have to see her side of it." He rubs the pad of his thumb on Malik's cheek, rubbing away the tears on Malik's shocked face.

"Are you being…considerate?"

Marik chuckles lightly and pulls Malik closer so he could nuzzle his hair. "I love you, Malik-pretty. But…please realize that she is right. I was evil. I did take over your mind. And now I've come between you two again." Malik freezes at the tone of his voice. "I never meant to do that."

"Marik, what are doing?"

Marik begins to stand up, ignoring the frantic hands trying to pull him back down. "I know you love your sister." He pries off the hands on his arms, watching as they fell limply beside a stunned Malik. "And I don't ever want to cause you pain again." He turns to the door and grips the knob. "If I leave then Isis will come back." And is immediately whipped around by a hand on his shoulder.

Malik crushes his lips to Marik's. After a moment, Malik pulls back, looking into Marik's eyes. "Don't you ever for a second think that I would want you to leave." Marik opens his mouth to object, but Malik interrupts him with a quick kiss. "Stop being so damn noble. It isn't like you."

Marik finally gains a smirk and a familiar, wild look in his eyes. "And what is like me?" he gently wraps his arms around Malik, dropping his hands down.

Malik matches his smirk as he feels hands fiddling with the top of his pants and places his palms on the front of Marik's shirt, plucking at it gently. "Maybe you should show me."

Marik growls and turns around, pushing Malik's back into the door. He places his hands on either side of Malik's head and grins at him. "What happened to my innocent little hikari?"

Malik licks his lips and smiles slowly, looking at Marik with half-lidded eyes. "He met his sexy, dangerous yami."

Marik leans forward and brushes his lips against Malik's, breathing out gently and watching how Malik's caught and quickened. He tilts his head and kisses the edge of Malik's mouth, then moves down to his neck, grabbing a piece of skin and sucking on it. Malik grips the forearms of his yami and lets his head fall back to give him better access to his neck. Hands fiddled with the bottom of his shirt and Malik swallowed down a moan.

"Bedroom. Now." Malik voice is hoarse but he doesn't bother to clear it. Marik hums against the boys neck and Malik grinds up in response, showing he meant business.

Marik groans as he feels Malik cant up his hips, and lets go of his neck, admiring the new mark, and bends down to grab Malik's legs. Said boy squeaks as he is picked up bridal style and carried into his room. The older of the two drops Malik on the bed and crawls on top of him, continuing where he left off.

Malik gasps as the mouth returns to his neck and he roughly yanks up the edge of Marik's shirt, desperate to get more skin-to-skin contact. Marik chuckles and removes the t-shirt, returning his hands to work on getting Malik out of his.

**LEMON STARTS HERE**

Malik moans as Marik lowers his head on a nipple, twirling with his tongue, not even noticing when Marik pulls off his pants and boxers, before sliding out of his own when he switches to the other one. Malik runs his hands up Marik's back, smirking a little at the shiver he feels underneath his hands. Malik gasps at he feels a hand wrap around his already hard erection and jerks up, ignoring the chuckle from above.

He tries to catch his breath, but finds it impossible. Reaching around blindly, he finds the drawer near his bed and opens it, ignoring the questioning stare from Marik to throw a bottle at him. Marik deftly catches it, looking and seeing lavender scented lube in his hand. He halts his ministrations to raise an eyebrow at a panting Malik, but just shrugs when he gets no response. Covering three fingers with it, he gently massages Malik's opening.

Malik stiffens almost immediately, flashing back to when Eboni had been with him. It takes a deep, tongue-filled kiss and murmurs of comfort for him to relax enough for Marik to insert one finger. Malik squints at the discomfort, but notices it isn't enough to cause pain. Nodding at the quiet man above him, he waits for the second finger.

He swallows back tears as his muscles stretch in a new way and Marik immediately pauses in spreading his fingers apart. Not moving them, Marik leans forward and nuzzles his hikari's neck. "Malik-pretty, we don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Malik frowns and clenches his teeth. "No, go on. I want this, it doesn't hurt that bad."

Marik looks into Malik's eyes as if searching for something, then nods. He inserts his third fingers and Malik chokes out a sob against the memory that the feeling brings back.

"Shit. Alright we're not doing this." Marik pulls out and gets off Malik, but is stopped by a hand on his bare chest.

Malik blinks past tears. 'I always ruin everything…Ra damn it.'

/**Don't you EVER think that.**/ Marik crawls and nibbles along Malik's chin line. /**You are beautiful, and I wouldn't have you any other way.**/

Malik smirks and nods his head. \**Alright then.**\ He scoots down lower on the bed. \**But since you won't do me…**\ He trials off in his mind as he drags a tongue up Marik's penis.

"Fuck!" the exclamation catches Malik by surprise, and he looks up to see an obviously struggling Marik.

He smiles and takes Marik's head in his mouth, sucking it gently. \**Something wrong, Marik?**\ He asks as innocently as possible.

Malik feels hands twisting into his hair, forcing him to take in more. "Damn it, Malik. You're so hot." Marik moans a little as his hikari begins to use his tongue to stroke underneath his penis. "Holy fuck. Yes, Malik."

Malik moans as he feels his erection get harder, but he gently removes the hands on his hair and lays back, pretending to go to sleep.

"The fuck?" He can hear the anger in Marik's voice. "You're just gonna leave me hanging? Cruel joke, Malik."

Malik turns to face his yami, not bothering to hide his erection. "You wanna do me or not?"

Marik frowns at the predicament Malik put him in. He snorts and pushes Malik back, straddling him once again. "I didn't want to hurt you, Malik. But you just had to go and tease me…" he takes a deep breath and grabs the forgotten lube and spreads it on his heated member, groaning as the cold gel hit it. He rubs circles around Malik's entrance and kisses Malik harshly, forcing away his attention.

Malik moans and barely notices as Marik slides inside him. The pain was expected of course, but he hadn't thought it would _this _bad. Malik breaks out of the kiss with a small scream, gripping the sheets on the bed fiercely. He is flashing between what was really happening and what Eboni had done to him. Struggling to stay still in the warm chamber around him, Marik groans as Malik squirms a little. Stopping the groan when he hears the following scream, he opens the eyes he had closed to keep better control and looks at his almost crying Malik.

Malik is panting and trying his best not to sob. 'Marik is NOT Eboni. He doesn't want to hurt me. It'll fade. Don't worry.'

Malik's reassurances to himself drift across the link to Marik and he frowns, feeling the absolute pain that comes with it. Shaking his head, he starts to pull out, moaning as it makes even him more erect. But Malik stops him. \**It's okay. The pain is fading. You can start moving now.**\

Marik frowns at the small lie Malik just told, but nods his head, not thinking coherently with the hardest erection he's ever had in his life. He slowly moves out, before slowly sliding back in. He shakes as he tries to hold himself back from pounding into Malik, but Marik does his best to take it slow.

The little white lie Malik told actually starts to become true as Marik moves inside him, slowly. Very slowly. "Damn it, Marik. If you don't pick up the pace I'm going to explode." Marik lets out a puff of air. "I was trying to let you adjust." He spits out sarcastically.

"Well, well. Someone's a little cranky." Malik moves his hips up, ignoring the small twinge of pain to let out a moan. "Why don't we fix that?"

Marik growls and pushes Malik down into the bed with a kiss, letting his body take over the rhythm. He shoves his tongue into Malik's mouth and twists his with the one he found inside. Malik breaks from the kiss again to let out another scream. "Right there, Marik! Hit there again!"

Marik smirks and angles his body to hit the tiny ball of nerves hidden inside Malik's body. It isn't long until Malik is panting and the smirk grows. Deciding to play a little trick, Marik pulls out, and doesn't reenter. Malik lets out a low growl. "I swear to Ra, Marik, if you don't finish me off, I will kill you." Marik only continues to smirk and grips Malik's hips.

"I think you'll like this." He flips Malik around and straddles him from behind. Immediately sliding in, he smiles at the resulting groan from below him.

"Malik. You are so fucking tight."

The squirming body below him lets out a breathy moan. "Please, Marik. More."

He thrusts faster, harder. "More what?"

"TH-THAT!" Malik yells out as Marik hits his prostate again.

Reaching around to pump Malik in time with his thrusts, it isn't long until Malik screams out a third time, and Marik feels the walls tighten around him. Moaning loudly at the feeling, he releases his seed into Malik.

**LEMON ENDS HERE**

Collapsing next to Malik, Marik pulls the limp body against his chest, petting his hikari's hair. "We'll talk to Isis tomorrow. We'll make things right again."

Malik just sighs and falls asleep in the arms of the man he loves.

* * *

**SW: I am sooooo sorry this is so late in the day! But I have been so busy and I literally just got home!**

**Yugi: Yeah, her entire family looked at her weird when she walked through the door and sprinted to her room.**

**REVIEW!**


	19. Needing Help

**SW: OK. I'm starting writing this chapter early so I don't fall behind.**

**Marik: *scoffs* Yeah, that'll work.**

**SW: I know it will! I hope…**

**Thank you to MetTheRealWorld and Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san for reviewing!**

**Enjoy reading!**

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**

{Bakura to Ryou}

}Ryou to Bakura{

* * *

Yugi groans at the beeping sound next to his ear, and swats absently at it. Wincing as his hand hits something, Yugi opens his eyes as the alarm clock falls to the floor, luckily landing on the snooze button.

The boy rubs his eyes and looks down at the body next to him, smiling at the peaceful expression on Yami's face. He slowly slides off the bed, being extra careful not to wake Yami, though how anyone could've slept through that noise, Yugi would never know.

He creeps down the hall to the bathroom, before freezing and silently slapping his head in annoyance. Tiptoeing back into his room, Yugi grabs his school uniform from his closet, and then quietly makes his way back to the bathroom to take his shower.

Yugi steps into the warm water and sighs at the feeling of being clean. Ignoring the small pain in his back, he bends down to scrub his legs, working his way up until his entire body is washed. Turning off the water and briefly running a towel over his body, Yugi gets dressed. He rubs the towel over his head, doing his best to tame the hair that is already in its spikes. The hikari quickly runs a comb through his hair before stepping out of the bathroom and walking into the kitchen, pulling on his uniform jacket.

Yugi pauses for a moment at seeing a smiling Ryou, and Bakura, who was sitting next to him with his head in his arms, apparently asleep.

Ryou whispers so he wouldn't wake the man next to him, "We let ourselves in." At Yugi's questioning glance he shrugs, "Bakura didn't want to wait for you to wake up so he…uh, picked your lock."

Yugi laughs quietly and looks at Bakura, appearing seemingly harmless. "Not to be rude or anything, but why are you here in the first place?" He walks to the fridge to get the milk, planning on a bowl of cereal.

A blush forms on Ryou's face, "I was kind of hoping that you'd let Bakura stay here during the day, he gets crazy ideas when he's bored and Yami should be able to keep him occupied enough…if they don't kill each other that is."

Yugi shifts a little and grabs a bowl out of the cupboard. "I was actually planning on taking Yami with me to school. But now that I think about it probably isn't the best idea. They don't have anything like ids or birth certificates."

Ryou nods and watches as Yugi pulls out a box of Krave, **(I don't own this either! Though it is really good!) **and wrinkles his nose in disgust. "You like that stuff? It's way too sugary for me."

Yugi shrugs and sits across from Ryou, pouring himself a bowl. "I think it's good." Yami walks into the kitchen rubbing the back of his head and Yugi smiles brightly, and forgetting that Bakura was sleeping, exclaimed happily, "Good morning!"

Bakura groans and lifts his head to glare at three people in the room before dropping his head on the table again. "Is everyone here a fucking morning person?"

Ryou fights off a smile as Yugi hides a giggle behind a hand. "We can't help that you're a grumpy ass, Thief."

"Shut the fuck up." "Language, Yami!" Yami smirks at Bakura before turning an apologetic smile to Yugi and taking a seat next to him, immediately grabbing the bottom edge of the chair to drag his aibou closer to him.

Yugi doesn't react to it and starts talking with Ryou again. "What about Malik?"

"We actually went there before coming here. Malik isn't coming to school today because he doesn't 'feel well'" Ryou puts air quotes around the words to show he didn't entirely believe it. "It probably didn't mean anything that Marik had answered in only boxers, or that he had a very noticeable mark on his neck." Yugi laughs as Ryou wiggles his eyebrows, getting what his friend is implying.

"I guess we'll just have to see Malik later to make sure the sickness isn't too bad." Ryou giggles at Yugi's tone of voice then glances at the clock.

Standing abruptly, Ryou motions that they need to leave. "C'mon! We're going to be late!"

Yugi notices the time and yelps, jumping out of his chair and depositing his bowl in the sink, he kisses Yami quickly on the cheek before rushing after an already gone Ryou.

"Be good, Bakura!" "Love you, Yami!"

Yami sits back in his chair, staring at the sleeping man across from him, before sighing and standing slowly to walk into the living room. Turning on the TV, he sighs again, bored already, and collapses on the couch, "Today's going to be a long day…"

* * *

Marik wakes in a haze, not entirely sure what has him feeling so warm. Then he remembers last night. Tightening his arms around the body cuddled against him, the man slowly opens his eyes, blinking to get the sleepiness out of them instead of moving a hand to wipe them.

Using his eyes to trace his hikari's body, he swears at the amount of blood that is on the sheets. "Damn it, Malik." He does his best to gently pick up Malik, but it isn't enough. Malik's eyes flash open and he lets out small scream of pain before clamping shut his mouth. He grips Marik's arm, and from the tight grip, Marik can guess it still hurts like hell.

"Malik-pretty." He talks quietly and calmly. "You're hurt. I'm going to carry you to the bathroom to get you cleaned up. Do you think you can handle that?"

Malik nods his head and braces himself as he feels Marik's hand across his shoulders and underneath his legs again. As soon as his yami picks him up, Malik sees white. The pain is unbearable. He whimpers and wraps his arms around Marik's neck, trying to relieve the pressure on his back.

Marik places Malik in the tub and turns the water on, and making sure it is warm enough, he stands up to leave and let Malik wash alone, but is stopped by a hand on his arm. He turns around and meets his eyes with soft lavender ones.

"You're dirty, too. Come in with me."

Glancing down at his body, Marik's eyes widen at the blood spread on his lower body. "Malik-pretty, I'm so sorry."

Malik smirks and drags Marik to the edge of the tub to suck on his neck. "It's okay. It was amazing." He bites down hard, before sucking gently and licking to ease the pain.

Marik swallows against the mouth on his throat, and sighs in relief when he hears a doorbell. Ignoring the raised eyebrow from the boy in the tub, Marik all but sprints out of the bathroom to answer the door. He has a hand on the knob to open when a voice drifts out, stopping him. "I hope you aren't going to answer the door naked!"

Looking down and sighing, he walks into the bedroom and grabs a pair of boxers. "I'm coming, damn it!" He yells to the door, which was now constantly ringing from the annoying sound of the doorbell.

He stalks to the door and whips it open to stare at a shocked Ryou and annoyed Bakura. He shifts his weight to one foot and crosses his arms. "What do you want?" He growls out. Sure he had been happy that the doorbell ringing had gotten him away from taking Malik right there in the tub, but that didn't he had to be nice about it.

Ryou flinches and stutters, "Uh, well, Yugi, Malik, and I normally walk to school together-"

Marik raises an eyebrow and cuts of the albino hikari, "And?"

"And how much fucking longer is cave boy going to take? I want to get back to sleep."

"Don't call Malik-pretty that!"

"Well if he was ready to go to the fucking prison already, I wouldn't have to!"

"Enough!" Ryou yells, placing fingers on his temples. He sighs as he looks up to two shocked yamis. "Is Malik coming to school today or not?"

Marik smirks and shrugs his shoulders. "He isn't feeling well."

"Ok. Thanks." Marik closes the door and walks back to the bathroom, snorting as voices drift through the door.

"See, 'Kura? Was that so hard?"

"Yes."  
"You're impossible."

Malik looks up from rubbing soap on his legs as Marik walks back in. "Who was it?"

Marik slips out of his boxers and steps into the tub, sinking into the warm water, but not forgetting to notice the slight pink hue that the water had taken. "Bakura and Ryou."

Malik moves over to sit in between Marik's legs. "Oh?"

Marik nuzzles into Malik's neck. "They wanted to know if you were coming to school today."

"Shit! School!" Malik abruptly stands but winces and hisses as a jolt of pain rocks his body.

Marik gently guides Malik back down. "I told them you weren't going."

Malik turns and kisses Marik roughly, pushing him back until he's almost below the water, "Really…"

Marik smirks at the boy above him, causing a shiver to go down Malik's spine, "Why, what are you thinking of my dear hikari-pretty?"

Malik swallows and nervously guides his hand down Marik's chest under the water, stopping at the hip. "Well, you are still pretty dirty…I think we need to clean up."

Marik pushes back, splashing some water out of the tub in the process of flipping their positions. "What a splendid idea."

* * *

Yugi sighs and rests his chin on a hand. He stares up at the babbling teacher with dull eyes, bored out of his mind and doing his best to ignore the pain that came with every movement. He is already ahead in this class anyway, it isn't like he needs to pay attention.

"Yugi, answer the question on the board, please."

Yugi closes his eyes to hide the rolling, pretending to be thinking when he already knew the answer. "The cosine of theta equals three over five therefore the hypotenuse is five and the tangent of theta is four over three."

"Perfect." The rest of the class either snorts at the smart kid or wonders in awe how he could have solved that.

The bell rings and Yugi sighs as he slowly stands up to leave. "Yugi, come here."

Yugi walks up to the teacher, smiling lightly to try and cover up the pain of each step, "I know that you are ahead in this class, however, I want you to understand that I don't want you trying to catch up in any of your other classes instead of paying attention to this one."

Yugi nods and keeps his hands clasped in front of him. "I understand, miss."

"Very well. You may leave."

Yugi rolls his eyes freely once he is out of the classroom. Thank heavens that that was the last class of the day.

"Hey, Yug'!" Yugi turns around to meet Joey, smiling happily.

"Hi, Joey! How's Seto?"

Joey turns red, "He's fine." He shakes his head as if to get his mind back on track, "Ryou gave me some of the story at lunch. But I want to hear the rest of it. By the way, where were you?"

Yugi shrugs, and keeps his eyes averted, not wanting to tell them about the bullies that had met him on the way to the tree where they ate. "My teacher held me back." He takes a seat on the steps outside the school, wincing as the movement irritates his bruises. "I'm waiting for Ryou, so I guess I can tell you the rest while I wait."

Joey sprawls down next to his friend, his legs taking up twice as many steps. "He left off at the point where Yami, Marik, and Bakura entered the Shadow Realm."

Yugi continues the story and when he finishes Joey punches the ground next to him. "I wish I coulda helped you guys!"

Yugi smiles and squeezes Joey's shoulder, "It's okay. Really. We had our yamis back. We didn't go through it alone."

Joey gives Yugi a lopsided grin. "Yeah, I guess you're right." A beep goes off and Joey reaches in his pocket to pull out a cell phone.

"Oh shoot! I forgot! I was s'posed to meet Seto ten minutes ago! Bye Yug'!" Yugi laughs as Joey runs outside the gates of the school and turns a corner.

Yugi stands slowly and looks back at the school. "Where are you, Ryou?"

* * *

Ryou frowns and sticks his tongue out at the music teacher behind his back. "You missed an entire concert, Ryou! We are going to have to work very hard to make up for the lost progress we made towards nationals. Play that last song again."

Ryou gives a quiet groan and places the violin underneath his chin, preparing to start the five minute song again. For the third time. His teacher was acting like he had been playing badly. Which he hadn't. 'Sorry Yugi…I might be a while.'

"This song is going to be one of the ones you will play next Saturday at Regionals. Though you missed the last competition, the judges are willing to let it slide due to your previous records. Consider yourself lucky." The teacher continues talking as Ryou launches himself into the song. "I want you practicing every night. No distractions. Do you understand?" Ryou pulls out the last note, and adds a little melody to it.

"What was that?! That is not in the song!" The teacher turns away from the window from where he was standing to yell at Ryou.

Ryou flinches and instantly regrets putting his own twist to the music, "I'm sorry, sir. It's just that-"

"Just nothing! I want you to come back tomorrow with this song memorized and unmodified! Do you hear me? Get out of my sight."

Ryou hastily packs up his violin and sprints out of the music room, his case banging against his leg.

* * *

Yugi leans against the wall, waiting for Ryou when he hears a familiar chuckle. He straightens in fright and looks around, trying to find where it is coming from so he can run in the opposite direction.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Little Yugi all by himself. What a shame." This is followed by more laughing and three huge men step out of a classroom and walk to surround Yugi against a wall.

Yugi flits his head between the three, shaking with fear. He takes a deep breath, "Leave me alone."

This causes the band of three to burst into laughter. "Looks like little Yugi's grown a backbone!"

"Ha! That's a good one boss!" "Yeah, maybe we should teach him what happens to people with backbones."

The one right in front of Yugi smirks, "That ain't a half bad idea."

Yugi swallows and flinches as all three take a step forward at the same time, closing off any way to escape.

* * *

Ryou runs down the hallway, but stops when he hears a scream in pain. Recognizing the voice, he picks up speed. "Yugi!" He rounds the corner to the front of the school, and halts in shock. Surrounding a curled up Yugi on the ground, are three brutes of men. Dropping his violin case, Ryou swings off his backpack filled with the homework he'd missed.

"Stay away from my friend!" He closes his eyes and brings his backpack down hard, right on the back of one of the bullies.

The one hit screams in pain and straightens, holding his back. The other two, however, focus their attention away from Yugi and towards Ryou.

He takes a small step back as they begin to stalk forward, the other still recovering from his hit. }Uhhh…Ba-Bakura?{

The worried voice of his yami drifts through the mind link. {What is it, Rabbit?}

The two bullies crack their knuckles and Ryou drops his bag in fright, taking another step back. }Can you-can you get to the school…like now?{

{I'll be right there, Ryou. Don't worry.} Both stand in front of Ryou who takes another step back, only to be met with a locker in his back. }Hurry.{

His breathing hitches and he braces himself for the hit when one of the bullies raises his arm. He collapses to the ground when the first hit comes, falling to his hands and knees as they strike him in the stomach. He looks up for a moment and sees the man he hit with his backpack kicking a fallen Yugi. He screams in pain as he feels a foot slam down on his back and hits the ground. One of them laughs and flips him over, lifting him by the shirt collar so he's staring straight into one of their faces. He sobs as a fist meets his face, hitting him the eye. The one holding Ryou throws him to the ground roughly, and he bangs his head against the floor.

Blinking against the newfound fuzziness in his vision, Ryou tries to focus on staying awake. He feels something kick his head and hears a bloodcurdling scream. 'Oh. That must be me. Or was it Yugi?' He feels like he's drifting.

{Ryou! Stay awake! I'm almost there, Ra damn it!} Oh yeah, he was supposed to stay awake for Bakura, right?

Something stomps on his exposed stomach and he coughs as the wind is knocked out of him. 'I don't remember seeing black before…I'm so tired 'Kura.'

{Damn it, Ryou! Stay awake!}

He feels a kick to his head again and everything goes black.

* * *

"Fuck!" Bakura sprints down the sidewalk. He had noticed how Ryou had stopped using the mind link, instead just thinking what he wanted to say and leaving Bakura to find it. He must be in a lot of pain.

Yami is running right next to him, and looks at Bakura out of the corner of his eye as they turn the another corner to reach the school. Yugi had failed to respond to his questioning through the mind link, so that meant he is either unconscious or blocking him out, neither of which he wants.

"Shit! Ra damn it!" And judging from the amount of swearing coming from Bakura, Yami could guess that Ryou isn't responding anymore either.

'How could I have forgotten the vision Isis had shown me? Yugi was being bullied and now Ryou is being pulled into it too.' Yami was kicking himself in his mind as they turn the last corner to reach the school.

Yami puts on a last burst of speed and barrels through the gates right before Bakura. Seeing nothing in the fields surrounding the school, Yami yanks open the doors, and stops at the sight before him.

* * *

Malik laughs and jogs out of the bathroom with a slight limp, the tub had helped, but hadn't relieved all the pain. Marik chases after him, grabbing his arm and whirling him around into a kiss. He drags it out, catching Malik's bottom lip and sucking as Malik tries to catch his breath.

"We have to, um, we have to get…get dressed."

Marik shoves Malik into a wall and kisses him roughly, "Do we?"

Malik squeaks and ducks out of Marik's arms to run as fast as he can with no pain into his bedroom. Trying to pull on clothes didn't work though, and he ends up on his butt in only a shirt.

Rubbing his sore back, Malik looks up to see Marik walk in. Smiling past the pain, Malik laughs a little, "Guess I lost my balance."

Marik snorts and offers a hand to help Malik up. "You shouldn't be moving so much."

Malik raises an eyebrow as he takes the hand and stands up. "Says the man trying to molest me." He jumps inside for joy when there is only a small pain when he stands up.

The man in question chuckles darkly and reaches up Malik's shirt to fiddle with a nipple. "It's only molestation it you don't want it." He leans in and grazes his teeth over an ear. "Do you not want it, hikari-pretty?"

His only answer is a breathy moan and a tilted head back as Malik leans into him. Marik smirks, "I thought so."

Marik pulls Malik in for a kiss, inserting his tongue easily in the other's mouth. They come apart as the doorbell rings, and it takes a moment for Malik to come back to reality.

"Shit!" Marik watches amusedly as Malik tries to hurry and put on clothes, while throwing an outfit at Marik.

"Please put those on. We don't want to scar the people at the door."

Marik grumbles and slips on the clothes as Malik starts to walk out of the room. "_You _don't. I, on the other hand…"

"Marik! Put the clothes on!" Malik turns around and glares at the yami still holding the clothes he was handed.

"Fine…"

Leaving his yami to put on the clothes he gave him, Malik walks to the door. Sliding open the lock, Malik swings the door open to a very familiar face.

"Hello, brother." A deep voice rings out from the man in front of him and Malik lets his hand fall limply from the door to his side.

Marik walks out of the room, pulling a shirt over his head. "Who was it, Ma-" He stops, seeing for himself just who is standing at the door.

Stepping forward to wrap an arm protectively around a stunned Malik's waist, he meets the man's eyes coolly. "Hello, Odion."

* * *

**SW: And cut! I think I'll leave it at that.**

**Ryou: Yugi and I are getting hurt again?**

**SW: Yep!**

**Joey: I can't believe I left Yugi alone! Idiot!**

**SW: You had good reason. You were late for Seto.**

**Bakura: NO EXCUSE!**

**Ryou: Yes it is! You're just jealous because you and I are the only group who haven't had sex yet.**

**Bakura: …**

**SW: HAHAHAHA! That's it? Well, that'll be fixed before the end of the story, which is sadly coming up.**

**Review please!**


	20. The Beginning of the End

**SW: Whoo! I am sooo ahead of schedule!**

**Malik: Only because you wrote part of your chapters during school.**

**SW: Shut up.**

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Thank you to Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san for reviewing!**

**Enjoy! Oh, and fair warning I swear A LOT in the Marik/Malik portion of this.**

* * *

Yugi drifts closer to the surface as something shakes his shoulders. He moans and tears come to his eyes as each movement brings pain.

"Yugi…hear me…can…up…bastards!" The voice next to his ear disappears and Yugi fades again. He hears distant sounds of fighting, then a scream. 'That's Ryou.' Yugi thinks absentmindedly, 'Is he hurt?" Then the darkness comes again and Yugi falls into it willingly. He is pulled into semi-consciousness when he feels someone pick him up, and carry him away.

* * *

Yami rushes forward to his aibou's side as Bakura runs past him to go to Ryou. He takes in the crumpled form and the bruises that he could see, and Yami assumes there is more that he couldn't.

Shaking Yugi's shoulder lightly, he winces at the pained moan that comes from below him. "Yugi. I need to know if you can hear me. Can you wake up? Open your eyes for me, aibou." No response.

He places a tender kiss on Yugi's lips, holding his bruised cheek for a second, before standing up to show what happens to people who hurt his hikari. "You bastards!"

The first is easily taken down, his back was to Yami. He slams an elbow into their back, before spinning around to get to their front and punching them in the face. While the man is holding a broken nose, Yami swings his fist into the side of his head and there is a moment of pause before he collapses to the ground, out cold.

Yami stumbles and grunts as he is hit in the back of the neck, and his vision goes blurry. Shaking his head, he turns to face the leader of the group, who is grinning like crazy.

"So you're friends with little Yugi, eh? Pity. You probably won't survive the night." While he is talking, Yami watches the third guy stalk around him through the corner of his eye.

"Somehow I think it's you who won't be walking away from this fight." The last guy is behind him, and Yami keeps himself prepared for a sneak attack as he warily watches the man in front of him.

* * *

Ryou is in a similar condition as Yugi. "Ryou! Damn it all! Wake up!" Bakura tenderly brushes away a few strands of hair with his fingertips, then blinks as he feels a thick wetness on them. Pulling away his hand, Bakura widens, and then quickly narrows, his eyes at the blood that had come from Ryou. Taking a closer look, Bakura sees the red-stained strands of hair at the base of his neck, and the still damp liquid that is dripping down his neck.

Carefully and gently, he lifts Ryou's limp body and props it against a locker to get a better look at the damage. Ryou's head falls forward, and Bakura's chest tightens at the unresponsiveness. 'He probably has a concussion.' Letting his gaze go down he takes in the swollen ankle. 'And maybe a twisted ankle. Damn.'

Standing up, just about to launch himself into attacking like Yami had done not five seconds ago, Bakura hears a soft, almost inaudible, voice speak up.

"'Kur-'Kura?"

The man whips around and faces Ryou, who had just barely cracked open his eyes. Bakura's eyes immediately go cold at how hurt and small Ryou looks. 'How dare anyone hurt _my _hikari.'

Ryou winces at the stare, thinking it is for him. "S-Sorry."

"For what?" His voice comes out gruff, but not because he is angry.

Ryou braces his back, arms and hands on the locker behind him and pushes to stand up on wobbly legs. "For being weak. I couldn't fight them off…" He sways for a minutes and stumbles forward when he tries to put pressure on his foot, only to fall into waiting arms that wrap around him.

He looks up as he feels drops on his hair. Reaching up tenderly, he wipes the wetness from Bakura's face. "Bakura-"

Bakura stops Ryou from saying anything by pushing him back to the wall and down to the ground. "I want you to stay here, understand? Don't move. You're too hurt."

Ryou absently nods his head and Bakura watches worriedly as more blood drips down Ryou's neck from behind his hair. He places a soft kiss on his love's lips before standing up to join Yami.

Wiping roughly to make sure that the little show of emotions isn't there anymore, he stalks towards the scrambling men. Yami was facing one, who looked like the leader, and another had already been knocked out and was lying face down on the floor. The third was sneaking up behind Yami, a Swiss knife in hand.

Bakura growls, "Save some for me, Pharaoh!"

Yami barely hears it, but laughs as he ducks his head to avoid a punch and sticks his foot out, tripping the man he's fighting. Bakura launches himself at the third thug, swiftly disarming him of his knife, sending it flying.

Bakura's hands fly, striking against any body part he can find, releasing the anger he had felt growing since Ryou had first contacted him through the link.

Just as the men Bakura and Yami are fighting fall to the ground for the last, a rough and nasally voice rings out, "Alright, that's enough." And then Ryou screams.

Turning slowly to where he had left Ryou, he sees the man with the broken nose that Yami had thought he had knocked out holding Ryou from behind. There is a glint of metal and Bakura focuses on Ryou's throat to see that the knife he knocked out of the thug's hand is being held in a tight grip.

Ryou lets out a little sob, and limps weakly as the man behind him pushes him forward. "You're going to let us go, or this bitch here is going to get a nice new tattoo on his neck." Ryou closes his eyes and whimpers, not caring how he is sounding as tears gather in his eyes.

"Fine." Ryou's eyes flash open as Bakura speaks and stares in disbelief.

"I'm glad you could see it my way." Walking forward to try and shake awake the one near Yami, Ryou is shoved towards Bakura by the man, and the tears roll down his face as he stumbles on his ankle, and falls to his knees.

After meeting eyes with Bakura, Yami turns to leave, knowing that he wanted to deal with the men who threatened and hurt their hikaris alone. Gently scooping up Yugi at the knees and neck, he begins to walk home, guessing that Bakura would soon be following. As soon as Ryou is out of the hands of the one holding the knife, Bakura pushes himself into the man, forcibly taking the knife. Twisting his body in a way to hide it, Bakura grips one of the shoulders in front of him and slides the knife in between the ribs. Letting the dying body fall to the ground, he moves to the man that Yami had attacked, effectively killing him as well. Bakura stops at the last man and takes a moment to look over at Ryou, who is watching with wide, teary eyes. Bakura sighs and bends over, slipping the knife into the unconscious man's hands.

Bakura stoops and lifts up Ryou, scowling at the squeak that came during the process. Bakura meets the eyes of a now fully conscious Ryou. "What hurts?"

He begins walking to the game shop. Ryou shrugs, wincing a little. "Everywhere. But the worst are my head and my ankle. Bakura?"

"What?" He looks ahead and doesn't meet Ryou's eyes, he knows what's coming next.

"This isn't the way to my house."

Something like a blush forms on Bakura's cheeks, "Yes. Well, I don't know how to use a first aid kit." Ryou opens his mouth. "And you are not treating yourself." And promptly shuts it.

* * *

Yami shifts worriedly as Grandpa Mutou fusses over a slightly lucid Yugi. "Yugi, my boy, can you hear me?"

"Huh? Wha-Oh, Grandpa. Yeah, my head…really hurts. Did I-Did I hit something?" Yugi blinks up at his grandfather.

Grandpa shakes his head, "No, something hit you. Or rather, someone." Yami had informed him of everything, and was saddened by the fact that his grandson hadn't come to him earlier.

Bakura bursts through the door with a pouting Ryou in his arms. "Really, Bakura. I swear I'm fine."

"Ryou." Bakura sighs and deposits Ryou next to Yugi. "You're bleeding."

"I am?" Ryou lifts a hand to his head, and lightly touches the knot there. Bringing his hand to his face, he looks at the red substance spread on it. "Oh, dear."

"I knew Ryou was hurt!" Yugi starts to wake up more as the pain his body had become accustomed to starts to fade. Everyone looks at him, so he elaborates with a shrug. "I had heard Ryou scream when I asleep."

Finishing his checkup, Yugi's grandpa stands back and wipes his hands together. "Well, there's nothing serious. Just a few bruises, is all, which is surprising."

Ryou and Yugi speak up at the same time. "My body's probably used to it." "I think I got there before anything really bad could happen."

Yugi and Ryou look at each other and burst out laughing. That is, until Ryou abruptly stops and holds his head with a groan. Grandpa rushes over to Ryou, and 'tsk's as he prods at the area around the knot. "I'm going to need some water and towels to clean this up, oh, and a new shirt of Yugi's for Ryou. Yami? You know where everything is."

"I'm on it." As Yami leaves, Bakura sits down in the armchair, staring as Ryou is checked over.

"Okay, my boy, you're ankle isn't sprained per say, but I would keep off it for a while. Lots of bed rest for the both of you, understand?" He wraps Ryou's ankle in an ace bandage, just to be safe.

Yugi nods and Ryou makes a sound of agreement as Yami comes back in, carrying a small bowl of water and hand towels.

"Perfect." Grandpa takes the items and begins to clean the lump, washing off Ryou's hair and neck in the process.

"Grandpa?" Yugi leans forward against straining muscles.

"Yes, my boy?" Grandpa expertly parts Ryou's hair just above the bump, begins to touch it.

Ryou hisses and squirms as Yugi continues, "How do you know so much about treating wounds?"

Grandpa laughs and wipes the excess blood from Ryou's head, pleased to see that the bleeding had stopped. "Back in my hay day, we didn't have doctors on call at our dig sites like we do nowadays. If we didn't have someone who understood how to treat wounds, there would have been a lot more fatalities in the archeologist section."

"Really?" This time Ryou asks the question, trying his best to ignore the stinging sensation from the antiseptic that is just now being spread on his head.

"Yes, my boy. Now hold still so I can put on the bandage." Ryou feels a large patch cover the base of his neck, before his hair falls back over it.

"There. All better." Ryou tests out moving his head, happy that his vision didn't fade. Much.

"I don't want you moving much, do you hear me, young man? I'm going to be here to make sure Yugi doesn't, but I want you to promise you won't." He nods and slips out of his bloody shirt, shyly passing it to the waiting hands of Yugi's grandfather before slipping on the baggy t-shirt.

"I'll make sure of it." Bakura moves to pick Ryou up, turning around so he could climb on his back.

"I'll get this shirt cleaned up and have Yugi return it to you, Ryou."

Ryou blushes and nods, wrapping his hands around Bakura's neck slowly while waving goodbye to Yugi. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye." Bakura walks out the door and starts to Ryou's house.

"'Kura?" Ryou has his face buried in Bakura's neck, but can tell that they are almost home.

"What?" As much as he hates to admit it, the last hour, had it really only been an hour?, had scared the shit out of him. He would've never forgiven himself if Ryou had been seriously hurt.

"Thanks. For, you know, saving me. Again."

Bakura can feel the heat from the blush on Ryou's face and smirks. "Guess you just gotta stop getting put into dangerous situations, huh?"

"Yeah…" Ryou feels his eyes droop, and he does his best to stay awake, but Bakura's steady footsteps lull him into sleep.

Bakura feels Ryou's breathing even out and bends at the knees to pick up the key from underneath the doormat. Ryou probably wouldn't appreciate if he picked the lock to his own home. Unlocking the door with one hand and slipping the key back into its hiding place with his foot, Bakura carries Ryou into his room. Keeping his back to the bed he tries to deposit Ryou on the bed, but the grip around doesn't waver and he ends up sprawled on the bed next to Ryou.

Bakura grumbles but stays where he is, and closes his eyes, just missing the soft smile playing on Ryou's lips.

* * *

Yugi sighs and falls into his pillows, ignoring the chuckle from above him, he lets his eyes flutter close.

"By the way you're acting, you would think you had walked up here yourself." The bed next to him lowers and Yugi giggles as Yami spreads out next to him.

"I would've, but you _wanted_ to carry me up."

A hand traces his cheek and Yugi smiles, letting his eyes open halfway to stare into crimson orbs. "Your grandfather insisted." A kiss on his forehead. "I can't refuse you anything." A kiss on his nose. "You're hurt." A kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Yugi's mouth quirks up more. "I think you need another reason."

"I love you." Yami leans over Yugi, placing a quick kiss on his lips, only to have it deepened when Yugi wraps his around Yami's neck.

They tangle their tongues together, and Yami moves on top of Yugi, temporarily forgetting what had just happened. Yugi squeaks into the kiss and freezes, and Yami opens his eyes to see Yugi's clenched in pain.

Swearing under his breath, Yami climbs off Yugi, pulling the boy into his chest and rubbing circles into his back. "Sorry, aibou."

Yugi sighs, and closes his eyes. "It's alright." He lets out a small yawn. "Love you, Yami."

"I love you more."

Yugi's breaths start to even out. "Impossible…" And he falls asleep on the warm chest of the man he loves.

* * *

"Can we come in?"

Malik blinks and tries to come back to the present. "We?"

Odion steps aside to show a grumpy Isis behind him. Just as Marik about to say 'No, you can't come in, fuck off.', Malik smiles and gestures inside. "S-sure come on in." Only Marik notices the slight quivering in Malik's voice, and doesn't move his hand from the hip next to him, even at Isis' glare.

Odion takes a seat on the couch, with Isis sitting next to him, and Marik pulls Malik to sit in his lap in the armchair and faces the two.

Odion begins, "I want to apologize-"

Isis cuts him off, "Wrong. _I _want to apologize for being" She stops for a minute before forcing out, at a glance from Odion, "rude to you, Malik. I should have been more considerate."

Malik nods, "Thank you." All three in the room stare at Malik in shock, and though Marik tries to get a gist of Malik's true feelings, he is blocked out from the link.

Malik starts talking to Odion in a calm voice. "You're moving in near here?"

Odion, a little off balance that Malik hadn't shown his temper, smiles lightly, "Yes. I'm moving to Tokyo, so it's an hour away, but still close enough to visit anytime you want." The open invitation is obvious.

Malik smiles brightly, no sign of anger, and further confuses the rest of the people in the room. "Thanks." His smile fades until it's barely there. "Isis? Do you still want to live here?"

Isis considers her brother, sitting on the lap of the man who she had hated for years. Taking in his hopeful stare, she sighs. "I guess I could stay here, I mean, _someone _has to keep an eye on you two."

Malik jumps up and wraps his arms around the waist of his sitting sister, whose calm façade wavers before she hugs back, closing her eyes in contentment.

Odion stands up and reaches his arm behind his head in a stretch. "I really hate to go, but I still have a lot to unpack. I will see you later?"

Instead of answering the question, Malik stands up. "Let me walk you out." The two leave chatting, and Marik and Isis are left alone together.

Isis leans in a fiercely whispers to Marik, "If you think for a moment that I trust you, think again. I will never let you hurt my brother or anyone else again."

Marik shrugs and leans back in the armchair. "I won't. I love your little brother and you're just going to have to deal with it."

Malik floats back into the room happily and plops down on Marik, not noticing the tension. "I'm so happy that Odion is here."

Marik smirks as Isis frowns at Malik's choice of spots to sit, and nuzzles and places a kiss the back of Malik's neck. Isis clears her throat and stands to leave. "I am going to my room if you need, brother." As Isis leaves, Malik's smiling face immediately falls.

"I don't understand why she doesn't like you."

Marik chuckles and turns Malik around so he is straddling Marik. Malik feels a slight pain, but it quickly fades, and he smiles a little at thought that he is healing. "Your sister does not like me because I am taking away from the time she would have spent with you." 'And I took you over and controlled you in the past.' Marik adds in his mind.

Malik shakes his head. "She knows I still love her though. If she wanted to spend more time with me, why didn't she just ask?"

Marik snorts. "Your sister is an idiot."

Malik slaps Marik on the arm, but he's laughing. "Marik!"

He shrugs and picks Malik up to carry him into the bedroom, "What? You know it's true."

"You don't have to say everything you think, you know." Malik crosses his arms and pouts.

"That's true. I could always use the mind link." Marik feels a bit of bitterness seep into his voice. "But you blocked that off." He sets Malik on the bed and crawls in after him, and turns sideways to brush at Malik's hair.

Malik fidgets and blushes, before reluctantly opening the link again. "Sorry."

Marik feels the happiness at seeing Odion and that Isis had chosen to stay, the sadness that Marik and Isis couldn't get along, and the shyness this position puts Malik in. Focusing on the last one, Marik pulls Malik's body into him, so that Malik's nose is at the base of his neck.

"Why are you afraid?"

Malik shakes his head and curls up into the man next to him as he feels an arm wrap over him. "I'm not afraid, it's just-you see…my dad always said that-"

"Don't you dare mention that man again." Marik growls out. Just hearing Malik call him father was enough to set a raging fire in him. "He won't hurt you anymore."

Malik nods and tears come up. "I-I know, but he always said that I was a…well, a whore and I would always be sleeping around and I might as well just sleep with him and I don't want you thinking I'm like that and I want you to be able to trust that I love you and that I won't ever sleep around and-"

Malik is cut off by a mouth to his lips. Marik wipes away the barely there tears and whispers against Malik's mouth, "I know what you are, and a whore isn't it. I love you, more than you love me." Malik's mouth twitches at the cockiness. "And you shouldn't believe anything your father has ever said."

Malik smiles, snuggling into Marik and closing his eyes while nodding his head. "This is nice." He breathes out deeply.

Marik nods and relaxes as Malik's deep breaths become even and calm. Placing a kiss on the top of his head, Marik leans back and closes his eyes, falling asleep with Malik in his arms.

* * *

Malik wakes up alone in the bed to the sound of yelling. Groggily changing his clothes he walks out of his room and hides behind the wall that would lead to the kitchen, listening in on the fight.

"I don't want you sleeping in the same room as my brother!"

"Well, sorry, but Malik, the one who really matters here, does!"

Marik and Isis are standing with arms crossed, and it looks a little funny because Marik has to look up to meet Isis' eyes. Malik peeks around the corner and would've laughed if he hadn't been listening to the words being said.

"Bastard! Do you really think he wants you in there? He is almost molested by his father and now he has his yami to deal with too?"

Marik rolls his eyes and glares at a bristling Isis. "We're dropping cuss words now? Fine by me. I know he wants me in there. He would've kicked me out if he didn't. I don't know what your fucking problem is, but Malik is a lot stronger than you think. And where were you when he was almost molested, hm? Fucking Egypt. You were in Egypt when Malik needed you the most."

Isis shoulders drop but she doesn't back down. "Malik would've been fine if you had never returned from the afterlife!"

"Malik was going to commit suicide!" Isis gasps and Malik whips around to face forward, not wanting to watch anymore. "Yeah, he was just fine without you around." The sarcasm in his voice is dripping. "I was shown a vision of Malik holding a knife to his throat and he almost went through with it. Think about that."

Malik blinks past tears and the conversation in the kitchen fades as his mind whirs. 'When did Marik see this? Why didn't he say anything?'

However, the fight shows no signs of stopping and is escalating quickly. "You fucking _bitch_! Malik was so fucking happy that you came back! He ran almost the entire way home, even with knowing that you would be mad with him. Do you know what he did when you left? Cried his eyes out, fucking balled them out on his knees where he had been standing before you left."

"If Malik didn't want to love an uncaring prick that cares more for himself than anyone else, I wouldn't have had to leave!"

"Stop!" Malik steps into the doorway with tears streaming down his face and his hands clenched in anger. "Just stop." Marik walks to Malik, but he is brushed off. "Both of you. I love you both so much." Malik shakes with the effort to keep his heart together. "But if you can't get along with each other, I'm not going to choose." He turns and walks to the door.

"Malik, where are you going?" That is Isis, but Malik doesn't face her.

"Malik-pretty?"

"I'm going out. I need to blow off some steam." With that he yanks open the door and slams it behind him, walking out into the chilly morning air, not even thinking about the school he is missing.

He walks into the gym, nodding to a trainer, and wraps up his hands and changes into the pair of clothes he always keeps in the locker room. Standing in front of the punching bag, Malik uses what he had found had worked to relieve the tension and anger back when Marik was gone.

* * *

Ryou and Yugi sigh, each holding a book bag, and in their school uniforms. Malik had been absent again. They walk for a while before they come to a point where they have to part to go to their separate houses.

"Hey, Ryou?"

"Yes, Yugi?" Ryou turns to face Yugi, his back to the direction he had to go home in.

"Think we can meet up later today and find out what's happening with Malik?" Yugi points in the direction where their friend would've been walking on his way home.

Ryou smiles lightly and nods. "Of course. I have to go home first and make sure Bakura didn't destroy anything though."

Yugi giggles, and waves before turning to walk home himself. "I'll meet you at your house later!" He yells over his shoulder.

"Bye Yugi!" Ryou starts to walk home, limping on his wrapped foot. He had trusted Bakura enough to not demolish his home while he was at school, let's hope that trust pays off.

* * *

Shaking his arms and rolling his neck, Malik walks back home in a much better mood. He steps into the house carefully and quietly, wondering if anyone had been murdered in his absence.

"Malik-pretty!" Malik is thrown off balance by a body suddenly hugging him, and he has to laugh at Marik's antics. "Are you still mad? Because Isis and I have come to a truce. We aren't going to fight anymore."

Malik looks up from Marik's arm to meet a waiting Isis' gaze. She steps forward and slowly wraps both boys in a hug, and Malik grins widely. "If you love him, there must be some redeeming qualities in him. And I will trust your judgment until I see them, brother."

Malik looks at Marik and Isis, standing and waiting for his approval. 'I finally have a family again!' He laughs, "Thank you. Both of you."

Then the doorbell rings. "I am seriously going to kill that thing for interrupting all the good moments." Marik growls out, and Malik laughs again before going to open it.

"Malik!" Said boy is thrown off balance for a second time, but this time by two bodies. Malik looks down and grins at his two best friends, watching as Bakura and Yami walk in past Marik to sit in the living room, knowing their hikaris would take a while.

"Where have you been?" Yugi practically shouts.

"Um, home?" Malik fidgets as he feels an examination coming on.

"What about the school you've been missing?" Ryou lets go of Malik to attempt, and fail, at a glare.

"Malik?" Isis' warning tone makes him flinch.

"I…forgot?"

"Malik!" Three uniform yells of exasperation and Malik is franticly looking for a change in subjects. Spotting the edge of a white bandage on Ryou's neck, and the bruises on Yugi's arms, he asks, "What happened to you two?"

"Bullies." That one word from Yugi was enough to dampen the entire mood of the room.

"Oh, well." 'Wrong subject change choice, better play it safe and change it back.' "Tomorrow's Friday, right? I'll just catch up with school then."

Ryou and Yugi look at each other for a moment before they both nod. "Alright." Then they both gain grins. "So how did you forget?"

A blush forms on Malik's face. "Uh…"

Ryou steps forward and wraps an arm around Malik's waist dragging him into the kitchen, "Marik told me you weren't feeling well, what sickness did you have?"

Yugi follows and steps in to the questioning "Maybe Marik meant Malik was hurt. Were you hurt, Malik? Where?" Yugi smiles impishly, "I think I know."

The blush deepens, "Gu-Guys!"

Ryou places a finger to Malik's lips. "Sh. Don't worry, we won't tell Isis. And we don't expect details. We just wanted to tease you."

Malik frowns and puts his hands on his hips. "That's not very nice."

Yugi giggles and runs out of the room to join Yami, "Who said we meant to be?" He calls over his shoulder.

Malik chases after Ryou, who had followed Yugi, but is laughing along with them. "You guys suck!"

"We love you too, Malik!"

* * *

**SW: Phew! I had no idea where to end this chapter.**

**Ryou: Wow, you're almost done.**

**SW: Yep, hate to spoil it but only three chapters left, an epilogue for each pairing. So technically, this is the last chapter.**

**Yugi: Kinda sad.**

**SW: Yeah, but I got plenty of new ideas for my next stories!**

**Malik: Hooray!**

**REVIEW! Pretty please!**


	21. The Ending, Part 1

**SW: Alrighty! This is the last chapter that will have Bakura and Ryou as one of the focuses.**

**Bakura: Damn!**

**SW: What?**

**Ryou: We leave first?**

**SW: Well…how about some consolation.**

**Bakura: Doubt it.**

**SW: If you don't like lemons, ignore the stuff in bold!**

**Bakura: HOLY RA! FUCK YES! FUCKING FINALLY!  
Ryou: *blush* Um, do you really have to write this?**

**SW: I promised my readers I would, so yes! Honestly, did you really think I would break it? I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Yugi: *giggling at Ryou's blush* Thank you to yamistar22, Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san, and MetTheRealWorld for reviewing!**

{Bakura to Ryou}

}Ryou to Bakura{

* * *

Three weeks had passed since the Eboni, Sheut, and Anubis incident, and things had mostly calmed down. The man that Bakura had left the knife with was arrested for murdering the other two. Yami and Yugi are taking over running the shop, as Grandpa Mutou's health is starting to fade. Malik, Marik, and Isis hadn't had any major fights, and Odion comes to visit regularly. Bakura and Ryou on the other hand…

"No!"

Bakura crosses his arms and frowns at his hikari. "But Ryou…"

"No means no, Bakura." Ryou is cooking dinner, frying up cod on the stove to go with the cheddar bay biscuits in the oven.

Bakura walks up behind Ryou and wraps his arms around the cooking boy, breathing kisses on his neck. "I promise it won't hurt me."

Ryou shivers and tries to concentrate on cooking and refusing Bakura at the same time. It wasn't working very well. His breath hitches and the grip on the fork he is using to flip the fish tightens. "Bakura…"

"Yes, Rabbit?" Bakura starts to suck the junction between neck and shoulder, right before where Ryou's shirt starts.

Ryou swallows and lightly moans as teeth graze against his skin. "I'm not going to…going to let you…ah"

Bakura smirks and moves his hands to grip Ryou's hips, not stopping his ministrations. "You don't sound very convincing, Rabbit."

Ryou all but melts as Bakura turns him around into a kiss, using his hands to stroke at his back. He moans as a tongue finds his way into his mouth, and yields willingly as Bakura strokes the fire growing in him. Suddenly, Bakura pulls apart, wrinkling his nose. "Is something burning?"

Ryou tilts his head, "Huh? Shit!" The cuss word is foreign coming out of Ryou's mouth and Bakura can't help but grin, even though the moment is ruined. "The fish!"

Ryou turns back around and flips the slightly charred dinner, sighing in relief at seeing it is only just beginning to burn, and it is nothing a little scraping couldn't fix.

Bakura hums and rewraps his arms around Ryou's waist. "So about that-"

But Ryou had regained control of his thoughts, "No Bakura, I'm not letting you take the job."

Bakura lets out a whine. "Why not? It'll help pay these bills you're always complaining about."

"Bakura, it's dangerous! Besides, you don't even have any identification." Ryou slips the biscuits out of the oven and sets the pan on the stove to cool next to the fish, which he had just turned off.

"I'll be fine! Really, I'm not a kid." Bakura had been offered a job testing newly designed weapons at a factory in Tokyo. The reason they needed someone new is because the latest test trial weapon had ended up backfiring and sending the old tester to the hospital. "And Kaiba helped me get what I needed." At a disbelieving glance, Bakura smirks. "Fine, Joey convinced Kaiba to help me."

Ryou gives an exasperated sigh and starts to put food on the plates. "You could get hurt."

"It won't be for long, only until the guy gets out of the hospital." Bakura isn't excited about working, but he had caught Ryou crying at night over a few pieces of colored paper, and after he was asleep, Bakura had found out that he is behind on his payments. _Really _behind. And the job he was offered pays well.

Ryou wavers for a minute, thinking about how much the money could help, before he firmly shakes his head. "No. You don't need to put yourself in danger just because I need a few bucks. I can get a job. A _safe _job."

Bakura grumbles but doesn't say anything more. Ryou puts the plates on the tables and he thinks the problem is resolved.

* * *

"I can't believe you, Bakura!" Ryou storms into the living room, trying to find some way to blow off steam.

Bakura quickly follows, his temper showing. "Ra, Ryou! You haven't found a job yet, I had to take it! You can't deny that this will help."

Ryou whips around and faces Bakura, his own eyes flashing, "I don't want to lose you!"

"I don't want to see you hurt, damn it! Do you think I like hearing you cry at night because your father isn't sending you enough money to support both of us? I hate mooching off anyone. You're just lucky I haven't picked up stealing again!" Bakura takes a step forward and grips Ryou's arms.

Ryou winces at the harsh handling, but Bakura doesn't show any signs of letting go. "You aren't mooching off me, Bakura. I love you, you would never be a burden. I just need a little more time to find somewhere I can work."

Bakura shoves Ryou to the ground, causing his back and head to bang into the table, "You don't have a little time, you're going to lose the house!" Then suddenly realizing what he had done, he looks down at an almost crying Ryou. "Shit. Ryou, I didn't mean to. I-"

Ryou shakes his head, and stands up slowly, holding his arms around himself. His breathing is heavy and uneven and it's obvious he is trying hard not to cry. "Ryou, I-" He reaches a hand out, but Ryou runs out of the room, and a moment later the front door slams.

"Damn it!" He swing his fist to wall, before falling to his knees and turning so his back is to the wall he just punched. Banging his head against it, he stares at the ceiling. "Fuck."

* * *

Ryou sits sobbing on the bed, with Yugi holding him from the side, the bruises on his arm evident, "I though he-he-he had changed!" Yugi glances at Yami, who is standing at the doorway, with sad eyes. "He said he loved me, Yugi! He said he would never hurt me again!"

"Ryou…"

He sniffles and wipes his nose on his sleeve. "I don't want to hear it Yugi. Do you think…Do you think that maybe I could spend the night tonight?"

"Of course you can, Ryou. You're going to sleep in here with me." Yugi rubs Ryou's back and Yami leaves the room, walking down the hall, and Ryou hears the back door of the house close.

"Where's he going?"

Yugi guides Ryou down the bed and talks to him soothingly. "Don't worry about it. Probably to get some...new gaming cards!" Ryou laughs at Yugi's guess, before sighing. "My chest hurts."

Yugi nods and continues to rub circles. "It's gonna be okay, Ryou. You just sleep now."

And Ryou does, but his dreams are filled with memories of the past when Eboni pretended to be Bakura and of the time when Bakura used to take him over.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?" Bakura looks up with red eyes to stare at the new occupant of the room.

Bakura lets his head fall back down. "I don't know, Pharaoh." He places his head in his hands, gripping his hair and shaking his head from side to side. "I just-I let my anger take hold of me. And now Ryou hates me."

Yami stares down at the crumpled Bakura, the defeated tone in his voice making him frown. "So you're just going to give up?"

The man on the ground whips his head up. "I threw him to the ground, Yami. _Hard_. I bet I bruised him. Did you see them? I was gripping his arms so hard, I can't imagine I didn't."

"You did bruise him." Yami shakes his head, "But he doesn't hate you. He might be crying at our house tonight, but he still loves you. He'll come back."

Bakura doesn't reply to the reassurances, and it isn't long until Yami leaves again. Placing his forehead on his knees, he closes his eyes. Nightmares fill his sleep of how Ryou will reject him coldly, hate him forever, and leave him all alone. Bakura couldn't help it when a teardrop fell from his eye in his sleep.

* * *

The next morning Ryou stands in front of his door, in a similar position to when his father had first returned. Smiling at the memory, he opens the door slowly and steps inside, looking around.

}Bakura?{

There is a loud banging from in the living room, followed by a long string of swears. Ryou walks in and sees Bakura holding his head against the wall.

"Did you sleep there?" Ryou wonders, but gasps when Bakura's bagged and tired eyes meet his.

"Define sleep." He grumbles and stands up, walking towards Ryou. Reaching out his hands to touch him, Bakura thinks better of it before letting his hands fall limply at their side.

Ryou blinks before smiling sadly. He takes Bakura's arms and wraps them around himself, letting his head fall into Bakura's chest. Breathing in deeply, Ryou apologizes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blown up at you. You should be allowed to take the job if you want to."

Bakura tightens the grip around Ryou that he had been given. "Don't apologize. Just because I was angry doesn't give me a right to push you around. If it makes you unhappy, I won't take the job."

But Ryou insists, "You want to do this, I know. And you can. Just…be careful, okay?"

Bakura scoffs, having enough of this mushy stuff, "Fine." He is happy that Ryou is back, and walks into the kitchen, saying, "Can you make breakfast? I'm starving."

Ryou laughs and follows his yami to make food for the both of them.

* * *

Later that night, the two were eating dinner, their chairs slid up right next to each other, so every movement had them touching in some way.

Ryou smiles as he remembers something. "You know what Yugi told me we're like?"

Bakura grunts, "He said we were like a married couple." and chokes on his food.

Ryou giggles at Bakura's reaction. "Why the hell would he say that?"

Ryou shrugs and snuggles up to Bakura. "I don't know. We do argue a lot. But we always make up, right Bakura?"

"Yeah."

Ryou stands up, picking up the now empty dishes and discarding them in the sink. Taking one of Bakura's hands, he pulls the man up and out. "Come on. Let's go to bed."

Bakura's mind immediately goes to the gutter and he leers at Ryou, who stops and stutters, his face going beet red. "No-No-Not like…like _that_."

Bakura laughs and the two switch positions, Bakura pulling Ryou along to the bedroom they shared. "I know, Rabbit."

Ryou falls asleep wrapped up in Bakura's arms.

* * *

Bakura groans and wakes up slowly, sitting up to let the blanket fall off his shirtless body. He slips out of the bed, careful not to wake the still sleeping boy next to him.

It had been two weeks since he had started the job, and Bakura could see why people complained about working. They have him working horrid hours and it gets worse. As he throws on a shirt and runs a hand through his hair, he remembers the 'meeting' he had had with his boss.

"_You wanted to see me, sir?" Being polite grated on his nerves, but he knew Ryou needed him to keep this job._

"_Yes." The overweight man sitting in the large leather chair behind the desk taped his fingers together. "We have been informed that our previous tester…isn't coming back."_

_Bakura raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms and leaning back in his own chair. "So?"_

"_I know we said that you would be only temporary, but our company would like to offer you a permanent job here."_

_Bakura shrugged. "I'm paying off depts. Once that's done, I'm out."_

_His boss leaned forward. "You know what we make here, don't you? And believe me when I say we have employs who know how to use our products."_

_Bakura scowled, all attempts to being polite thrown out the window. "Are you threatening me?"_

"_Of course not. We value our workers and would never endanger their lives." Bakura scoffed. "Just as we like to be informed on what our employees do outside the workplace." He didn't like where this was going. "And wouldn't it be a shame for the person that one of those employees lives with to suddenly go missing."_

_Bakura got what he was implying and went pale. "You hurt Ryou, you die. Slowly."_

_The man laughed and didn't appear intimidated. "Now, now, there isn't a need for anyone to get hurt. I'm merely stating that if we were to lose one of our prized employees, then one might lose a person important to them."_

Bakura scowls at the memory and glances at a serene Ryou still on the bed. They had yet to take the next step, but Bakura is willing to wait. After all, he is lying about quitting the job once the old tester came back. He pulls on pants and walks out the door.

* * *

Ryou sighs in relief, the envelope the electricity company had sent them contained a letter saying the last of their bills had been paid. Bakura had been depositing all his checks in Ryou's bank account, and they had saved up enough money to last them, along with Ryou's father's money, until Ryou is out of high school.

He stands and walks over to Bakura, who is sitting on the couch watching TV. Ryou places a kiss on Bakura's cheek and takes a seat on his lap.

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

Ryou smiles over his shoulder before turning to watch the show Bakura has on. "We made our final payment, and the bank just sent us letter with how much money you have saved up. You don't need your job anymore."

Bakura grunts and stares at Ryou's back. "Oh."

"Yeah! Aren't you glad?"  
"Ecstatic." Bakura places Ryou to the side of him, leaving the boy pouting while he walks out of the room. "Look, I'm tired. I'm going to head off to bed."

Ryou looks confused and stands up, walking past him and down the hall. "Alright. I'll join you."

Bakura watches as Ryou goes into the bathroom to change, before falling backwards on the bed. 'Damn it. I can't quit, Ryou would kill me if I killed my boss when I quit, and my boss will kill Ryou if I quit.'

Ryou skips back into the room, now in a flannel shirt and sweats, and kisses Bakura. Bakura leans into it and it easily becomes something more.

Ryou moans in the back of his throat as Bakura flips him over and pushes into the bed. The boy wraps his arms around Bakura's neck and starts playing with his hair. Bakura growls and starts unbuttoning Ryou's shirt, sliding it easily out from under his body.

The back underneath him arches and he hears a small scream as Bakura moves his lips onto Ryou's chest. He is forced to break contact as his shirt is ripped over his head. Bakura meets Ryou's half-lidded eyes and smirks, before having them come together for another kiss.

**LEMON STARTS HERE!**

Ryou gasps as hands unbutton and slip off his pants and boxers, and Bakura takes the opportunity to slide his tongue in Ryou's mouth. He takes off his own pants while Ryou is distracted, and it isn't long until their naked bodies are touching at every possible point.

Ryou lets out a shaky moan as Bakura grips his erect member, and the man leans up, trailing a tongue inside Ryou's ear. "That's it. I want to hear every delectable noise your mouth can make."

"Ba-Bakura!" Ryou screams out and arches his back as the hand around him starts to pump. Bakura trials his tongue down his hikari's stomach, dipping in his belly button, before stopping just before the throbbing body part in his hand.

Bakura feels hands wrap around his head, before a delicious whimper comes out of Ryou's throat. "Please…'Kura, please."

Bakura releases his hand and blows gently on the member of his lover. "Please, what?"

"Jesus, Bakura! No more teasing!" Bakura smirks at Ryou's outburst, but obliges.

"Since you asked nicely…" Bakura leans down and sucks gently, delighting in the loud scream that follows.

Bakura laughs, which only causes Ryou to release a breathy moan. "O-oh. Bakura!" The hands on his head grip tighter, and he forces down his gag reflex as Ryou thrusts up.

"Mmm." Dragging his mouth up, Bakura pops his lips against Ryou's head. "Who knew you would be so loud, Ryou." He lets his tongue swirl around Ryou, and there comes a small whine.

"I-Keep doing that, Bakura!" Bakura smirks and bites gently on Ryou's shaft, before stroking it with his tongue to replace the pain with pleasure.

The hands on his head move to grip his shoulders and push down. Bakura keeps Ryou's member halfway in his mouth and talks around it, "Getting impatient, are we?"

Ryou moans and quivers, and Bakura knows he's close. Ryou couldn't even think straight anymore, he is just riding the feelings that Bakura is giving him. He feels hands start to fiddle with his balls, and that sends over the edge. Jerking his hips up franticly, he releases into Bakura's mouth.

After swallowing everything, Bakura crawls back up to a still panting and sweating Ryou. Ryou opens his eyes halfway to stare at the man above him, "Wow. Just…wow." He is able to pant out.

Bakura brushes kisses over Ryou's face, before breezing to his neck. "I can make it feel even better."

Ryou barely registers what his lover says as he feels that magic tongue work over his throat. "Mm?"

"Yeah." Ryou thrusts his hard again member up against Bakura. "My, my. Aren't we rushing things today."

"I swear Bakura…"

Bakura sits up and sticks three fingers in his mouth, completely ignoring a now captivated Ryou. Sliding out his now doused fingers, he smiles slowly at Ryou, "What?"

Ryou blinks, trying to focus on the here and now. "Huh?"

Bakura fiddles with Ryou's entrance, watching as Ryou swallows roughly. "I think we were talking about how much you were rushing things." He grinds down at the same time as he inserts his first finger to distract Ryou, and both end up moaning in pleasure as their members strike.

Bakura immediately inserts the second finger, ignoring a pained yelp, too turned on to think about Ryou's pain. Only after the fog clears from his brain does he realize that he is moving his fingers in a scissor-like motion.

Stopping immediately, he looks as Ryou pouts, and moves his hips a little. "Just when I was starting to enjoy it…"

Bakura growls and puts in his third finger, keeping the middle still while moving his index and ring up and down. Ryou tries to force himself not to whimper, causing a small strangled sound to slip out of his throat.

Bakura pauses for a moment, but Ryou jerks up his hips as he feels the movement stop, and lets out a loud scream in pleasure. "Ah! What-Bak-God-Did-" Ryou starts stuttering as soon as he comes down off cloud nine.

Bakura pulls out his fingers and positions himself, already wet with pre-cum. "At least I know where your prostate is now." He grins down at Ryou. Ryou pouts a little, but that is immediately contorted in pain as he feels Bakura enter him.

"Ra, Rabbit. You're so tight." Bakura is panting at the effort to stay still, knowing it would be painful for his hikari.

Ryou whimpers and keeps his eyes clamped shut, remaining stiff on the bed. "Ryou, if you don't loosen up, it won't be good for either of us." He nods his head and does his best to relax his muscles, and only then does Bakura slowly start to move.

As soon as he does, Ryou feels a ball of…something build up inside him, and his toes curl in pleasure. He lets his back arch and his head down against the pillow as Bakura takes it slow.

Watching the pain slowly turn into pleasure for Ryou, Bakura picks up the pace, sliding out to the tip before pushing all the way back in. Ryou eventually moves his hips in time with Bakura, and he immediately goes faster, moaning deeply as the walls around him stroked his member.

Ryou yells out suddenly, and Bakura remembers the spot he hit earlier. Now aiming for the specific spot that would make Ryou squirm, Bakura slams into Ryou, finally going at a pace that matches his needs.

Ryou gasps and moans, each time Bakura dives in sending him higher and higher. It is a slope Ryou didn't want to come down from. But he eventually reaches his peak and screams out loudly.

"Bakura!" The yami feels walls clench around him and he groans in ecstasy, before he follows Ryou, releasing inside him.

Not caring that there was cum over both of them, Bakura pulls out and collapses next to Ryou.

**LEMON ENDS HERE**

The two pant for a while before Ryou rolls over to straddle Bakura with a grin, even though he knew he would regret it in the morning. }Wanna go again?{

Bakura smirks and pushes the boy back down to be on top again. {Hell yeah.}

* * *

Bakura untangles their limbs and slowly slides out of bed, knowing there is little chance of Ryou waking up, but not wanting to risk anything. He walks into the bathroom and uses a wet bath towel to clean up instead of trying the shower. He slips out of the bathroom and walks to the door of the bedroom after pulling on his clothes. He halts when Ryou sighs and shifts, turning over to try and feel a Bakura who is no longer there.

Turning back to the door, he opens it slowly and steps into the hallway. "Sorry, Ryou."

He is just about to open the door when he jumps at the doorbell. Swearing under his breath about going soft, he yanks the door open to a very surprised police officer.

Half an hour later, an annoyed Bakura sits with the police officer next to him. "So pretty much, what you're saying is my boss got arrested."

"Yes, but since you were an-"

"Bakura?" Ryou drifts into the room, slightly limping, rubbing his eyes and dressed in only one of Bakura's t-shirts. "I think I heard someone at the door." Even in his sleepy state, which Bakura thought was, though he hated thinking it, cute, Ryou could recognize the uniform of an officer. "Oh! Do you want anything? I can brew some coffee or tea real quick."

The policeman's eyes never leave Ryou's bare legs. "No, I'm fine. Thank you. Why don't you take a seat?"

Ryou, completely oblivious, nods his head a little dreamily. "All right." Just as he is about to sit in between the two, Bakura, who had noticed the looks the man was giving Ryou, pulls the boy to sit in his lover's lap. Wincing a little, he smiles at the now down-trodden officer. "What brings you here?" Under his breath, he adds to Bakura, "What did you do?"

Happy that he could answer truthfully, and after he makes sure nothing of Ryou's is showing, Bakura replies in the same quiet tone. "Nothing."

"Well, as I told this young man here, the boss of his job has been taken into custody for unlawful use of weaponry and an attempt of assassination. We would like to take a" He glances down into his notes, before looking up doubtfully. "Bakura Bakura in for questioning."

Ryou doesn't even falter. "That won't be necessary, sir."

"It won't?"

"Nop!" He stands up, gesturing for the officer to do so too, and starts walking to the door, albeit slowly, but he was getting used to walking with that small twinge of pain. "You see, Bakura had just decided to quit yesterday, and if he was in on any scheme, why would he do so?"

The policeman keeps his eyes focused on the lower half of Ryou's retreating body, following him blindly, hoping that the t-shirt would accidently slide up. "Oh?"

"Yes, sir!" Completely ignoring the annoyed Bakura standing in the hallway, he turns around and teasingly trails his fingers up the uniform that is right behind him. "I can vouch for him, of course."

{What are you doing, Ryou?} The anger in his voice is obvious, and Ryou tries not to flinch. }Just trust me.{

The man blinks and takes a step forward as Ryou takes one back, the growl from behind him drowned out from the pounding in his ears. "Really?"

Ryou reaches behind him with one hand and grips the door handle as the officer gets dangerously close. With the other hand, he grips the man's shoulders and rubs with his thumb. "Yeah. Hey, do you work out? You've got really strong muscles."

The police smirks and flexes his arm. "Well, I have to. You know, for the job."

Ryou giggles and keeps his hand on the man's arm. "Of course."

The officer leans in closer and in one swift movement, Ryou opens the door and sends the officer tumbling out of it. "Sorry, but Bakura won't be able to come downtown with you, he has nothing to share." And with that, he closes the door.

Two men on either side of the door speak at the same time, "What the hell just happened?"

Ryou laughs and walks up to Bakura, "Why didn't you tell me Kaiba gave you my last name?"

Doing his best to ignore the swaying hips in front of him, Bakura frowns and focuses back on the subject he wants to. "Where did you learn to flirt like that?"

Ryou smiles slyly and drops his voice to a husky whisper. "Maybe I always knew." He reaches around to trail his fingers down Bakura's spine, "Or maybe I'm just a really good actor." With that, he steps back with a huge yawn. "Oh, I'm tired. I'm going back to bed, wake me up when it's later." The boy walks back up the stairs.

'Note to self, don't mess with a sleepy Ryou.'

* * *

_Ten years later_

* * *

Bakura groans and steps into the house from his work at a security company to the sound of his screaming seven-year-old daughter. "Daddy! Baraka won't give me back my tiara!"

The sweet sound of Ryou's voice follows soon after. "Amisi, there's no need to yell. Baraka, give it back. No, don't give it to Chigaru!" Ryou's exasperated voice comes from the kitchen as a basset hound races toward Bakura with a tiara in his mouth.

Sighing, he looks down at the small pup, which immediately drops the now covered in slobber crown. Picking it up, he walks into the kitchen where his screaming daughter is throwing a fit on the floor. Her perfectly straight white hair flies all over the place and her chocolate brown eyes are closed as Ryou tries to calm her. Wiping the tiara on his pants, he clears his throat.

"Father!" His five-year-old son, who looked like him as Amisi looked like Ryou, with wildly spiked white hair and bright, brown and red eyes, runs out from under the table to hug Bakura.

"Papa!" Amisi forgets about her fit and joins Baraka in her father's arms. Placing the crown on Amisi's head, he smirks at the tired Ryou. "I think they like me."

Ryou rolls his eyes and bends over to pet Chigaru, who had walked in wagging his tail. "Please. They adore you."

All three hikaris had prayed to both Bast and Taweret, wishing with all their hearts that they would be able to give birth with their yamis. The two goddesses had appeared before them, arguing of course over who was the real goddess of fertility, but once that had been politely stopped by Ryou, they told them their wish had been granted, and each would be allowed to have two children each. In fact, Joey had been given the gift as well, and he and Kaiba had had two girls, the older named Kisara and the younger, Bennu.

Snapping out of his memories, he listens to the conversation his husband is having with his son. "Can I go see Kontar?" the small boy asks with a light blush on his face.

"Why would you want to see one of the Pharaoh's children?" Bakura replies, wrinkling his noise in disgust.

Baraka's blush deepens and he squirms in his father's arms. "I don't know, he's kinda nice."

Bakura scoffs and sets his son down, who goes running to his other father, and keeps a hold on Amisi. "Well, how about you, my little flower? Is there anyone you would like to see?"

Amisi wrinkles her nose like her father. "No! Why would I when the only people I can see are the kids of the Tomb Robber and Pharaoh?"

Bakura bursts out laughing while Ryou groans, hoisting a blushing Baraka up. "Great. Now you've got her talking like you."

"What's that supposed to mean, Daddy?" Amisi puts on her best glare, while Bakura is still chuckling. "Yeah, what's that supposed to mean, Daddy?"

Ryou purses his lips together. "You know perfectly well what that means Bakura." He sets down Baraka. "Now go play. Nicely." He adds as Amisi wriggles free of her father's grasp to join her brother.

Bakura had never imagined he would be doing this. Having a life. A family. A job, albeit a tedious one, but still. Someone he loved that he could spend the rest of his life with. But here he is, doing just that. Bakura wraps his arms around Ryou's waist, nipping lightly on his husband's bottom lip. And he is enjoying it.

* * *

**SW: Hooray! You can have kids!**

**Ryou: Yay?**

**SW: YEP! But sadly, only two of them each.**

**Bakura: So, we're out of the story now?**

**SW: Kinda. You'll still be mentioned but it's not like you'll be anything major.**

**Bakura: Wow. Way to make me feel special.**

**Review!**

**OH YEAH! And these are the kids' (and dog's) names' meanings. I decided for all of them to have Egyptian meanings because…well because!**

**Baraka = Blessing/Gift (Bakura's and Ryou's son)**

**Chigaru = Hound (Their dog)**

**Amisi = Flower (And their daughter)**

**Bennu = Eagle (This is Seto's and Joey's daughter, there won't be much mention of her or her sister)**

**Kontar = Only son (You'll learn more about him later)**


	22. The Ending, Part 2

**SW: OK! Here is my ending part Du. Malik and Marik!  
Marik: You know what I just realized?**

**Malik: What?  
Marik: We are getting are endings in the exact opposite order of when we found our hikaris.**

**SW: I didn't even realize that!**

**I hope you enjoy! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**\Malik to Marik\**

**/Marik to Malik/**

* * *

Four weeks after Malik had been rescued, things had mostly settled. Isis had gradually accepted Marik and they are living happily together. Malik suspects that there is something going on between Isis and Odion, who visits at least three times a week. Malik is happy for them, happy that the man he already saw as an older brother and his sister are happy.

Malik yelps and runs into the kitchen, dodging a cooking Isis with Marik on his tail. "You get back here, hikari-pretty, or so help me Ra…"

The two end up on opposite sides of the table, and Isis rolls her eyes as they try to fake each other out. Malik suddenly runs to her, turning her away from the stove so she is facing an annoyed Marik, and hiding behind her back. "Protect me, Isis!"

The woman sighs and pries her brother's hands off the back of her tan dress, turning off the stove to prevent burning the food. "From what, Malik?"

"Marik's gonna kill me!"

Isis raises her eyebrows. "Okay, so maybe he won't really, but he might!" Marik snorts and leans against the table, crossing his arms.

At that moment, the phone rings. Leaving Malik alone with Marik, Isis walks into the living room to answer it. Picking up the phone, and shaking her head at the scream behind her, that is quickly followed by a moan, she misses the first few words the speaker says. "I'm sorry, but could you repeat that?"

Malik pries his lips off Marik's as hears the phone clatter to the table in the living room. Peeling off Marik's wandering hands, he looks over into the room next to the kitchen and sees Isis kneeling on the ground, her dress pooling around her.

"Isis?" Walking over to his unresponsive sister, he picks up the phone on the table, wondering what could've shocked her like that. "Hello?"

"Yes. Um," A woman's voice carries over the phone, "is Miss Ishtar alright?"

Glancing down at his sister, he takes in her blank stare at the floor. "That depends on what you told her."

Keeping an eye on his sister, who Marik had guided to the couch, he listens to what the woman has to say. "I am a nurse at the Tokyo Provincial Hospital. **(Not real!) **A Mister Odion Ishtar was admitted this morning." Malik's knees go weak, but he waves off Marik, who had stood to help him, instead using a hand to brace himself on the couch.

"Wh-" He has to clear his throat. "What?"

"He was in a serious car accident and has been in surgery all morning. Mister Ishtar has just gotten out and one of the names on file to contact was Miss Isis Ishtar. You wouldn't happen to be Malik Ishtar, would you?"

Malik fights through the daze to answer the nurse, "Yeah, that's me."

"You're the other name he has down to contact in case of emergency. I assume you will be arriving shortly?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah. We'll be there as soon as we can." He hangs up and drops the phone on the table, finally letting himself go numb.

"I…Odion-" He tries to explain but Marik shakes his head.

**/I was listening through the link, Malik-pretty, I know./** Malik should've been angry that he was eavesdropping, but all he feels is a chest-tightening fear.

Isis shakes herself and stands, walking into the kitchen to jerkily grab the keys. Not bothering to make sure if Marik and Malik are following, she strides out the door and to the car. Malik feels Marik wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him to the car and sitting him in the back seat with him.

Isis drives robotically, her knuckles white as she grips the steering wheel. Marik glances worriedly between the two, hating that he had to be the one who had control. He sighs in relief when they finally pull into the hospital parking lot.

They walk in and Marik strides towards the desk, pulling Malik forward, but not noticing that Isis had stayed behind, frozen up. "Odion Ishtar, please."

The nurse takes in his appearance, looking him up and down, raising an eyebrow at the arm wrapped around Malik's waist. "Mister Ishtar is in the ICU. He isn't scheduled to wake up from the anesthesia for another half hour or so. Who might you be?"

"Marik Ishtar." She nods and looks at the computer.

"Are you family?"

Marik snorts. "Close enough to it."

The nurse narrows her eyes and to anyone else it might be menacing. "I realize you have the same last name, but I will need some identification on your part. There are photos of Malik and Isis Ishtar," she nods to the woman who had just made it up to the counter, "so I know who they are, you on the other hand…"

Marik falters for a minute, knowing that he _had _no identification, and looks over surprised when Malik shakes off the fear pounding at his heart and head, and gets to work. Malik puts on a sweetly innocent voice and keeps his eyes on the floor. "Hello, uh, Miss…" His eyes flick up to check the name tag on the desk, "Taite. I'm Malik Ishtar."

The woman nods her head. "Yes, I know."

Malik fiddles with his thumbs, and tears come up in his eyes. "Well, I know it's against the rules, but could you, maybe, just let it slide? Just this once? Both Marik and Odion are really, really important to me, and I don't want to be away from either of them." He lifts his head to stare at the nurse with wide, sparkling eyes, giving the appearance of a kicked puppy.

The nurse didn't stand a chance.

She flusters and frowns, before reluctantly nodding her head, gesturing to the hallway next to her. "Straight down the hall, to the right, take the elevator to the fourth floor, room 467."

Malik smiles brightly, all traces of tears gone from his eyes. "Thank you!" He leaves a confused nurse at the table and grabs Marik's and Isis' hands pulling them down the hall.

Marik catches up and nuzzles the top of Malik's head. "When did you get so…submissive?"

Malik blushes and keeps his eyes forward. "A boy's gotta know what a boy's gotta know to get people to do what he wants."

Marik smirks, thinking of Bakura and Yami. "Can your friends do it too?"

"Mhm." They reach the elevator and Marik presses the up button. When it arrives, Marik steps in, followed by a still blank-eyed Isis and a very reluctant Malik.

Malik stands in the middle of the elevator, not talking, his eyes flicking to the three walls he could see, and the ceiling. The entire ride up is filled with tension and silence, and as soon as the elevator door opens, Malik practically leaps out.

Glancing at Isis for an explanation, but doesn't get one, he starts to walk out, planning on asking Malik. A hand grabbing his shoulder stops him. "Please don't. Ask him about it that is. He's embarrassed enough already that he doesn't like confined spaces. If you bring it up, you'll only make him feel worse."

Marik takes in Isis, realizing that the only words she's said were those to protect her brother, and nods his head. "I understand."

Isis shakes her head, and walks out with Marik beside her. "I don't think you do. Malik can't be in a small space for long, he'll start to have panic attacks. It came along after…well, after you." It was the first time anyone had brought that up in a while, and Marik is glad it is with a soft tone.

"So he is claustrophobic because of me?"

Isis nods her head, "Sometimes, even the apartment gets too small for him, and he has to go out and get air before he can relax enough to come back in."

Marik frowns and his eyebrows furrow, he hadn't known the reparations that had come along with his possession. Malik is waiting for them at the door, staring at the door handle of room 467.

Flicking his eyes up to Isis and nodding his head, he opens the door. Isis flies past him with a cry, kneeling beside the bed, almost crying.

It is worse and better than Malik had thought it would be. Odion is lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV. He has a cast on his leg and a sling holding his arm in place across his chest. There were green and yellow bruises all over his body and the off white sheets made his tan skin look unnaturally pasty.

He stands behind Isis for a moment, who is praying in whispers while holding Odion's hand, and realizes that Marik isn't next to him. Looking around, he sees that Marik is waiting at the door, as if he is an outsider.

Malik reaches a hand out, palm up, an open invitation to join their family. Marik hesitates for only a moment, before he strides forward and grasps Malik's hand, standing next to him. However, after fifteen minutes, Malik starts to fidget and looks around the room nervously, his breathing starting to pick up.

Marik glances at Malik out of the corner of his eye. "You okay?" He whispers, not wanting to break the silent vigil that they had taken up, but willing to if Malik is starting to freak.

He resolutely nods his head, but Marik doesn't buy it. "C'mon." He pulls on their attached arms until they were out of the room and walking, and he doesn't stop until Malik gives a sigh of release. "Why didn't you tell me you were claustrophobic?"

Malik blushes and looks down. "We were never in the same room during one of my attacks, and I don't usually have to go into small spaces. I wasn't trapped in the room with Eboni long enough for me to notice, so it didn't matter much, and every time I started freaking out at the apartment I went for a walk." Once the flow of words starts, Malik couldn't stop them. "I'm sorry. I know it's ridiculous, that I'm afraid of small spaces. I mean, it's just a room, what can it do? But I can't help it and it's been with me for a while now. It's kinda ridiculous. That I've gotten so used to it, you know? And it isn't like it's consistent either. The amount of time I can last changes all the time. Sometimes I can't believe myself."

"Isis told me I was the reason."

Malik flinches, "You talked with her about this? Ok, it might be a little bit due to the time I wasn't in my own body, but that's not all of it. Being raised in a cavern has some affect to it too. I just never want to go back there."

Marik rubs his thumbs over Malik's shoulders. "And you won't." Noticing that the boy had more control over his breathing now, Marik guides him back in the direction of the room. "Don't worry about it."

Malik stops for a moment, before letting out a small laugh. "You know, people are going to give us weird stares if we are together, we have the same last name."

Marik looks at Malik out of the corner of his eye. "How did you get on _that _track?"

Malik shrugs. "I was thinking about Odion and Isis, I know you know that something is going on between the two. And since he is our step-brother, though we never legally adopted him, people are going to object to them being together."

Marik snorts. "I doubt that'll stop them. Just like it won't stop us." He pulls Malik into a deep kiss, rumbling in approval when the boy moans and submits.

Malik is backed up against the wall of the hallway with hands on either side of his head and wraps his arms around Marik's neck to get the two closer together. They twist and battle with their tongues until Marik overpowers the other and inserts his tongue into the warm mouth of Malik. The boy feels hands drift down to his pants, fingers playing with his belt. He breaks apart the kiss, panting and out of breath.

"We can't Marik…We're in public." Marik makes a big show of looking down both hallways, but doesn't move his hands. "I don't see anyone." He tries to pull Malik into another kiss. Malik dodges and moves out of Marik's reach, starting to walk back to the room again.

Marik sighs and follows, taking long strides to catch up his hikari and wrap an arm around his waist, letting his hand dip down to grope the mound he found there. Malik jumps about a foot off the ground. "Marik!"

Marik shrugs but moves his hand away, a smirk drifting across his face. "I can't help that your ass is amazing."

Malik blushes and keeps walking forward. "You're lucky we're not home, otherwise I'd be kicking yours."

The two reach the room and walk in together, and Malik gasps in shock. "Odion!"

The now-awake man on the bed gives a small smile, wincing as the movement jostles the bruises on his face. "Hello, little brother."

"Are you okay? What happened? Where are you hurt? How did you get in an accident?" Malik rushes forward from Marik's side, who had stayed by the door to give the siblings privacy with Odion.

Odion chuckles lightly, "Slow down, Malik." He rubs the pad of his thumb over Isis' knuckles, still holding on to her hand. "I am fine. I was hit on the side by a drunk driver, my car rolled over and onto the side of the road. I have a broken leg," he gestures to the cast with the hand not in a sling, before pointing to his neck. "and I fractured my collarbone. I wasn't at fault and the other driver is in custody." He glances to Isis before looking back at Malik. "I think that was all your questions."

"How long will you have to stay here?"

Odion sighs and shakes his head. "At least tonight. I won't be able to move around much and it's going to be hard getting back to my house, but-"

"Stay with us!" The outburst from Isis shocks everyone, and she blushes and looks down. "You'll need someone to take care of you. We might not have much room," Isis smiles. "but us Ishtars know how to make do."

Odion nods his head gratefully, careful not to jostle his lower body, "Thank you."

Malik smiles brightly, "You're going to be staying with us?"

"Apparently, little brother." Odion grins, "Now you'll have two people to keep from making out with your boyfriend."

Malik's face goes red, and Marik gains a smirk. Isis laughs, "Good luck with that. These two go at it like bunnies during mating season."

If at all possible, Malik's face gets redder. "Isis!"

Marik shrugs and finally walks forward to drape an arm over Malik's shoulder. "It's not like you're quiet, Malik-pretty. You probably keep her up all night."

Malik pouts and crosses his arms. "And whose fault is that?"

The other occupants of the room just laugh.

* * *

Odion had healed nicely over the next few weeks, and it is becoming more and more apparent that Isis and Odion like each other.

"Marik! I said I wasn't in the mood!" Odion rolls his eyes from his position on the couch, his sling no longer on, most of the bruises faded, and the plaster cast now replaced with a walking one.

"But, Malik-pretty…"

"No!" There is a small squeak before Malik gives a frustrated yell and stomps out of his room. "Jeez, Marik!"

Marik follows closely after, "What?"

Ignoring his yami, Malik sits down next to Odion. In an extremely polite tone, he asks, "Hello, Odion, how are you feeling?"

The man in question raises his eyebrows and looks to the sulking Marik, who is now sitting at the kitchen table. "You know it'll only get worse the longer you tell him no."

Malik pouts at Odion. "He needs to learn that we can't have sex whenever he wants!"

Odion nods his head, "That is true."

"See! Odion agrees with me!" Malik yells into the kitchen.

The man continues talking, "…but that doesn't mean that you two don't have to be together."

"Ha!" A smug tone carries in from the kitchen, where Marik is no doubt glaring at the table.

Isis walks in, and placing a kiss on Odion's forehead, goes into the kitchen to cook lunch. Trying to hide a laugh behind a cough, Malik takes in Odion's red face, before whispering in a not-so-quiet stage whisper. "Why don't you just do her already?"

"MALIK!" Two voices speak at once, and he's hit on the top of his head with a spoon. "Ow! Hey, what was that for? We all know you guys want to!"

Isis rolls her eyes, but turns back into the kitchen to hide her blushing face.

Marik had found his way into the living room and had wrapped his arms loosely around Malik's neck from behind. "You're coming with me, hikari-pretty."

Standing up slowly as Marik's arms rise, Malik protests, "Hey! What if I don't want to?"

"You don't have a choice."

Malik laughs as Marik's arms move from his throat, to be replaced by hands on the sides of his stomach. Screeching and running back into his room to avoid the tickling, Malik laughs when Marik follows, closing the door behind him.

Odion looks at Isis from behind, before standing slowly and limping over to her. Gripping her waist from behind, he twirls her around and pulls her into a kiss.

The spoon drops to the floor.

* * *

_Ten years later_

* * *

"Damn it!"

"Marik! Language! The boys will hear you!"

"I don't care! This computer isn't fucking working!" The sound of crying follows the outburst, as two six-year-olds are woken up from their naps.

Marik slams his laptop shut, too annoyed to think of working on the latest project his boss sent him. Standing up and walking to the fridge, thinking of grabbing a beer, he halts at Malik's voice. "You better be coming in here to help with the twins!" Marik sighs and closes the fridge slowly, walking into the nursery with his head down.

Marik had gotten a job designing commercials, however much he hated it, and as soon as he earned enough money, they moved out of the apartment and into a spacious house in the suburbs near Domino. It is large enough that Malik never has to worry about the walls closing in on him, and he hadn't had an attack in years. Isis and Odion had gotten together and had moved to Tokyo to stay at Odion's place. The two had one son, named Bomani, but Isis is unable to have any more due to the difficulty she had giving birth the first time.

The company Marik works for pays well enough for Malik to be able to stay home in take care of the twins, however, Malik takes advantage of whenever Marik decides to work from home, like today. Handing one of his sons to him, Malik holds the other one. "Now why aren't you asleep?"

The one in Marik's arms shrugs, grinning fiercely. "We heard Daddy use bad language."

"Wati..." The boy looks up to the one holding him. "Yes, Daddy?"

"You aren't helping Daddy by ratting out to Mommy."

The child held by Malik giggles. "But Mama says that Daddy already digs his own grave."

Malik coos and throws the child up before catching him. "Aren't you right! Daddy knows just how to get on Mama's wrong side."

The boy shrieks in laughter and squirms in his parent's arms when his is brought up to rub noses with him. Wati pouts and crosses his arms, hating that his brother is getting special treatment. Sticking his tongue out, he pointedly looks up at the ceiling and says in a sing-song voice, "Ishaq's a mommy's boy. Ishaq's a mommy's boy."

Ishaq's face goes dark and he turns in Malik's hands, "Take that back!"

"I don't wanna."

Marik snorts and shifts Wati on his hip. The two boys looked exactly alike, with their mother's calm platinum blonde hair and their father's wild eyes, but they are anything but similar. "Boys, stop fighting. You're giving your mother a headache."

Ishaq's mood immediately changes, and he giggles behind both his hands. "Mama said whenever you talk about him, you're really talking about you."

An eyebrow twitches and Marik sets Wati down on the ground. "Alright. Naptime's over. Go play."

The two boys cheer and run off together, screaming in delight, to wreak havoc on the house in their own special ways.

Marik stalks towards a smirking Malik. "Sometimes I think they are too smart for their own good."

Marik grins widely. "They get it from their father." Malik raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms, appearing relaxed, but listening for any sign that the house might burn down.

"Oh, really?" He presses his body up against Marik's, staring at up the inch that separated their heights.

Arms wrap around his neck and pull him in so their lips are almost touching. "Yep." Marik closes the space and devours Malik's lips, sucking on the tongue that had found its way into his mouth.

Malik's knees go weak and he grips Marik's hips to keep standing. He moans lightly as Marik's tongue overpowers his own, and is inserted into his mouth. Marik starts to move the kiss downward, trailing his mouth across Malik's jawbone, and sucking on his neck. Malik tilts his head back and moans louder, no longer caring that the kids might hear.

"Damn it!" The voice carries in from the living room and Marik sighs as Malik pulls away to yell in the direction of his son's voice. "Wati! Language!"

"Sorry, Mama!" The voice drops but is still loud enough to hear. "Ra damn it!" Malik shakes his head, walking out to check on the kids. "I've got Wati, you take Ishaq." He knows that if one had gotten into trouble already, so had the other.

"Deal." Before they part at the door, Marik reaches around and slaps Malik's butt. Smirking at the squeak and the way Malik jumps, he boasts, "I still got it."

"Yeah, well, you won't be getting any if you don't go check on your son." Marik scowls as Malik walks away, swaying his hips in a way that Marik knew was supposed to tantalizing. And damn it, it was.

Marik walks into the kitchen, knowing that's where Ishaq would go, and drops his jaw. The entire place is covered in flour, water, and sugar.

In the middle of it all, was a giggling Ishaq, who is throwing handfuls of flour into the air. "Look, Daddy! I made it snow! And it isn't Christmas!"

Marik shakes his head, and picks his way through the mess to get to his son. "Ishaq…"

Catching the warning tone, the boy immediately stops and looks down sheepishly. "Yeah, Daddy?"

He crouches in front of the boy. "How did this happen?"

Ishaq giggles, but catching the look from his dad, stops as soon as he begins. "Well, I saw the snow on top of the fridge, so I caught a chair to grab it." He gestures to the fridge, where the largest mound of flour is, surrounding one of their kitchen chairs. "But I wasn't high enough so a got a really big spoon to knock it down." He points out the black plastic ladle forgotten on the floor. "And I did it!" He shines with pride, before his shoulders slump. "But I also got the magic crystals Mommy puts on my Rice Krispies **(Don't own!)**." He points to the broken porcelain bowl on the floor. "So I tried to clean it up." He points to the still running sink, which Marik immediately reaches over and turns off. "But that didn't work so I gave up and started to have fun!"

Marik takes in his now completely white child, and starts laughing. That's when Malik decides to come in. "Glad you think is so funny." He is holding Wati at the hip, who in turn is holding a tissue to his nose.

Ishaq immediately becomes interested in his brother. "What happened to you?"

Malik answers for him. "This little man decided it would be fun to launch himself off the couch. Straight into a wall. Gave himself quite a nosebleed."

Marik cackles, doing his best to sober up when Malik sends him a glare. "The only way I could get him to calm down was to promise him we'd go to Yugi's."

"I wanna go to Uncle Yugi's!" The voice comes out nasally, and muffled by the tissue.

Ishaq laughs and does his best attempt to imitate his father in wiggling his eyebrows. "You just wanna see Omorose!"

Even behind the tissue, you could see the beet red face. "Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Well, maybe Amisi will be there."

Ishaq clamps down his mouth, before slowly turning to Marik. "Can we go now?"

Malik tries not to laugh, and Marik smirks, picking up his flour-covered son, "We have to get both of you cleaned up."

Malik turns and walks out of the kitchen, not wanting to deal with the mess right now, he would clean that up later. "You know what that means, boys?"

There are two screams of complete horror. "Not a bath! No, Mama! Don't make us!"

Marik leaves Malik to deal with the two squirming boys, ignoring the resulting glare, and makes his way to the kitchen. Deciding to be nice, he cleans up most of the mess, sweeping up the flour and porcelain pieces, and throwing them away. 'Damn, I'm whipped.'

**\Got that right.\**

**/Shut up, hikari-pretty./**

* * *

**SW: Hooray! Another chapter done!**

**Malik: One more to go?**

**SW: Yep! The Yami and Yugi epilogue**

**Yugi: *claps hands together* It's going to be so much fun!**

**The names of the kids you saw this chapter and their meanings:**

**Bomani = Warrior (Isis' and Odion's son)**

**Ishaq = Laughs (One of Malik's and Marik's twins)**

**Wati = Rebel (The other of Malik's and Marik's twins)**

**Omorose = Beautiful (You'll learn more about her later)**

**Preeeeetty pleeease review!**


	23. The Ending, Part 3

**SW: Last chapter :/**

**Yugi: I don't like this one.**

**SW: …It gets better, I promise! The present part (the one where I kinda close up loose ends) is going to be really short compared to the future because I'm going to be working on the kid's pairings, just sayin'.**

**Yami: Yeah, aibou, you have to read past the beginning.**

**Yugi: I don't wanna!**

**If you don't like lemons ignore the stuff between the bold!**

**Well, then…Thank you to SincerelyChristina, Goshikku Hime wa Yami, and ValeryaPotter for reviewing! (Sorry if I forgot to thank you last chapter!)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Yugi sighs and finishes stocking the shelves, watching as Yami walks back in from the storage room to help a customer. His grandfather is upstairs sleeping, and Yugi is worried his age is catching up with him. It had been six weeks since the bullying episode and Grandpa Mutou's health is slowly fading. Yami and Yugi had picked up taking care of the shop, leaving the older man to rest. The doctors had given him pills to help with the arthritis and his heart, but they were slowly starting to stop working.

Sensing Yugi's depressing thoughts, Yami rings up the order, handing the change to the leaving customer, before walking over and placing a kiss on Yugi's forehead. "Don't worry, aibou. He'll be fine."

Yugi buries his head into Yami's chest, thankful for the reassuring arms that wrap around him. "I'm scared, Yami. I don't want him to…to leave me."

"I know." Yami walks away and flips the open sign to closed. "C'mon. Maybe Grandpa could use some company."

Yugi hums in agreement and jogs up the stairs, not waiting for his boyfriend in his eagerness. "Grandpa?"

Yugi looks around as there is no answer. Walking down the hall to his grandfather's room, he hears Yami walk into the kitchen, probably to make a snack for them all. He pushes the door open, then screams.

Yami comes bolting down the hall, the ramen he was about to put on the stove forgotten. He walks into the room to see Yugi kneeling next to the collapsed figure of his grandfather. The man immediately knows what happened and looks at Yugi with pity.

"Oh, Grandpa. Please, wake up." Yugi's voice hiccups and he starts to sob. "Pl-please. Don't –Don't leave me, Grandpa. You can't."

Yami walks up to Yugi, placing a hand on his shoulder. At that small touch Yugi crumbles. He turns and grips Yami with all his might, shaking and sobbing into a controlled Yami's chest. Looking down at the pale body in front of him, Yami lets a small sigh come out. The pain hurt his heart, but he would not cry. He will be strong for Yugi.

* * *

Yugi stands in front of a grave, staring down at the freshly turned grave. He is the last one to leave, not even going when the people told him needed to so they could finish burying his grandfather. Fat, sparkling tears run down his face and his entire body shakes.

Yami sighs and hugs Yugi from behind. "C'mon, Yugi. We have to go now. Everyone else is waiting at the banquet hall."

Yugi chokes down a sob and shakes his head wildly. "No. I can't-I don't want to leave."

Yami could feel the pain and heartbreak drifting through the link, and that is only a portion of it. "Yugi…" He places a light kiss on the back of his lover's neck. "Your grandfather wouldn't want you to mourn like this. He would want you to remember the happy times you spent with him." The boy sniffles and the shaking in his shoulders start to calm down.

Encouraged, Yami keeps going. "I know it hurts, Yugi. But it will get better, I promise you. It won't go away completely, I won't lie to you, but you will be able to remember him fondly. The first step is to step away."

Yugi slowly nods his head, staring at a spot on the ground. "Maybe…maybe you're right." He doesn't actually think that, but he knows that Yami would feel better if he left, and Yugi is willing to hide the pain if it made Yami happy.

* * *

Two months had passed and things had still not gotten better for Yugi. He still feels the pain of missing his grandpa with every step, and every memory he shared with the man flashes through his mind constantly. He avoids his friends and is starting to drift from Yami.

Yami frowns at the distant Yugi, who is robotically ringing up orders at the cashier and handing back change. He is seriously starting to worry for the small boy. His aibou isn't eating right, barely having a meal a day, and Yami knows for a fact that Yugi hasn't slept through an entire night since the funeral.

Yugi's eyes flick up to Yami's, as if reading his thoughts, but Yami knows that isn't possible. Yugi had closed off the link a short while after the funeral and hadn't reopened it. Something about 'dealing with it on his own", yeah, _that's _working out well.

Yugi sighs and looks at the time, deciding to start to close up shop. He and Yami finish quickly, even though they don't say a word to each other. The boy stands at the counter and admires their work, the pristine shop with fully stocked shelves. His grandfather would be proud. His grandfather… 'We are _not _going down that road, Yugi.' He says firmly in his mind and turns to walk briskly up the stairs, blinking past tears.

"Yugi…are you alright?" Yugi stops at the stairs, nodding his head. He takes a shuddering breath and talks in a thick voice. "Yeah, I'm just gonna head up." He takes the first step on the stairs, but is stopped by a hand wrapped around his arm.

Yami pulls on the arm he is holding, turning Yugi around, and crushing his mouth against his own. He had held back for weeks, and he had had enough. Taking the moan as a sign to go farther, Yami traces his tongue on Yugi's bottom lip. Quivering against Yami, Yugi opens his mouth and lets his eyes drift close, realizing for the first time how much he had missed kissing the man in front of him.

"Yami." Yugi whispers through his lips as the kiss ends, only to lead to fiercer, shorter ones.

Sucking on Yugi's bottom lip, before kissing every inch of the boy's face, Yami tries to think through the fog in his mind. "What?"

"Let's take this upstairs." Yugi's entire body is trembling, but he doesn't care, he needs Yami. Now.

Yami grunts in reply and picks Yugi up bridal style, not stopping the kisses, nor to wonder how he could walk and suck on Yugi's neck at the same time without hitting something.

Yugi lets out a small moan as he feels teeth nibble against his collarbone. He doesn't even register when he lands on his own bed, he is too far into the haze of pleasure that Yami is giving him.

**LEMON STARTS HERE**

Ripping off the shirt stopping his progress, Yami moves his frantic mouth to one of Yugi's nipples, growling at the scream and arched back that follows. Yami climbs on top of Yugi, straddling him, and sits up, groaning at the resulting friction.

Yugi pants and struggles to work on taking off Yami's pants. He frowns when his hands don't want to listen to his head, and looks up at a chuckle. Yami is slowly removing his shirt and Yugi's eyes go wide as he watches. Throwing the shirt off to the side, Yami notices the attention he is getting. He smirks down at his lover and removes the stilled hands on his pants to remove them on his own.

Yugi licks his lips and notices how Yami's eyes immediately darken. Gaining a smirk of his own, Yugi lets his hands move slowly to his own pants. Though it was difficult to do so with someone on top of him, he relishes in the quickening of Yami's breath as he pushes his pants down. Lifting his hips up to get them off fully, he lets out a small scream at the unexpected brushing his member has with the one above him.

Yami had had enough of waiting, finishing the process of taking of Yugi's pants for him, he reaches over and opens the drawer that he knows Yugi keeps certain substances in. Slathering his quivering body part in lube, he places it at his aibou's entrance. Yugi jerks his hips forward, pushing Yami's tip in. "Get on with, Yami. I'm dying here."

Yami growls and pushes in, moaning along with Yugi at the pleasure. "Yugi…Ra."

The boy pants and grips the sheets. "Yami, if you don't move, I will personally make your life a living Shadow Realm."

The man immediately picks up the pace and thrusts in and out, no longer thinking, but letting his body control his movements. He unconsciously remembers the spot that would give Yugi the most pleasure and repeatedly slams into it. The boy rides with Yami, letting the waves of pleasure send him to the stars. Yami feels a familiar clenching in the muscles around him and groans loudly and releases.

At the same time, and feeling Yami inside him, Yugi's entire body gets jolts of pleasure. In one fluid movement, Yugi comes over the both of them and the link opens.

**LEMON ENDS HERE**

Yami lets out an uncharacteristic gasp as he feels emotions that weren't his own for the first time in weeks.

Overwhelming happiness and feelings of content, but an underlying tone of sadness, something that had just started to heal. Yami sends over comfort, his own happiness, and love, anything to make Yugi know that he isn't alone.

Yugi sighs and basks in it, closing his eyes to ride out the end of his orgasm. The piece of him that he thought had died when Grandpa did is growing back, slowly, but it was more progress than he had had in the two months he forced himself to be alone for.

A body falls down next him and pulls him closer, and Yugi smiles, snuggling into Yami. "I love you, aibou, don't you ever forget that."

Yugi curls up and feels himself slipping off into sleep. "I love you too, Yami.

* * *

_Ten years later_

* * *

A laughing squeal rings out through the house and a six-year-old boy with narrowed violet eyes crosses his arms in annoyance, huffing past blonde bangs that streaked up into star-shaped hair that ended in crimson. A younger girl of five with flowing black hair that fades gradually into blonde at the ends runs circles around the boy. Her crimson eyes sparkle as she twirls. "Whee! I'm Dark Magician Girl! And you can't beat me!"

The boy rolls his eyes and sticks his foot out, tripping the girl. She goes sprawling, landing on her knees. The girl twists, so she is sitting on her butt, and holds her knee, starting to tear up. Looking around frantically, the boy crouches in front of the girl. "Come on, Omorose. I didn't mean it, I swear." The girl sniffles and her bottom lip quivers. "Please don't cry." But Omorose doesn't listen and lets out a loud wail.

"Kontar! What did you do?" A harsh voice yells out from downstairs and the boy, now known as Kontar, flinches. Putting a hand over his sobbing sister's mouth, he shakily replies, "N-nothing!"

"Don't make me come up there!" Kontar hisses and tries to calm the girl, his eyes widening at the blood he could see gathering in between her fingers. "Quiet, Omorose! Don't make Father come up here!"

Omorose screams against his hand and Kontar winces as a new voice enters the room. "Don't worry, Yami. I've got this!" The voice calls down the stairs and Kontar looks up to the ceiling.

"Alright, Kontar, what did you do?" The boy smiles sheepishly and looks over at the man with wide violet eyes and slowly removes his hand from Omorose's mouth. "Nothing…"

"Kontar tripped me!" Yugi coos and picks up the wailing girl, cradling her.

"Kontar, is this true?" The boy sighs and looks down, knowing he is caught and that he might as well face up to it. "Yeah."

"Why don't you sit on the couch and wait for me while I clean up your sister?" Kontar keeps his head down and nods, knowing it wasn't really a question.

It isn't long until Yugi returns holding onto Omorose, who is sucking her thumb with a new Dark Magician Girl Band-Aid **(Don't own Band-Aid!)** on her knee. Yugi sits Omorose next to Kontar, noting how he wrinkles his nose in disgust. "Sucking your thumb is gross."

Omorose removes her thumb to reply, "Is not." But Yugi notices that she doesn't put it back in.

"So…what happened?"

Kontar blows air out through his mouth. "Well, Omorose was being annoying-"

"Was not!"

"-and I…" He takes in a breath and fiddles with his hands, but doesn't look away from his father. "tripped her. Sorry, Dad."

Yugi smiles and brushes a stray bang from Kontar's face. "It isn't me you should be apologizing to."

Kontar grumbles but turns to his sister. "Sorry, Omorose."

Omorose puts her hand on her chin, considering, before breaking out in a smile. "It's alright, big brother! I still love you!" And proceeds to wrap him in a hug.

Catching himself from 'aw'-ing at the scene, Yugi turns as the phone starts ringing. Grabbing the handheld from the living room table, he answers, "Hello?"

Kontar peels off Omorose's hands to listen. "Yes, I'm sure they would love to have Ishaq and Wati over." Omorose immediately perks up, and Kontar snorts.

"No, not a problem at all." Yugi laughs as if hearing something he shouldn't have. "What did they do this time, Malik?" Yugi cracks up. "The entire kitchen? I'm glad my kids aren't like that." A pause. "Yes, well, that's what you get for marrying a psychopathic tomb raider." Then quickly rushes forward. "No, no. I didn't mean that. I was just quoting Yami." Another pause. "Yeah, I'll call Ryou. See you soon."

He hangs up and ignoring his bouncing daughter, calls down to the shop while dialing the phone. "Yami! Everyone is going to come over for the day!"

"Alright, aibou! I'll close up shop early!"

Putting the phone to his ear, he greets the one who answers, "Hello, Ryou!"

There is a long pause. "Really? I was just about to ask you if you wanted to bring Amisi and Baraka over for a playdate." Kontar blushes and misses the next few sentences, and the energetic Omorose hadn't even paying attention to this call. "Ok, see you soon!"

As soon as he had hung up, Omorose bursts out, shocking Yugi. "Who's coming over, Daddy?"

"Everyone. Uncle Marik, Malik, Ryou, and Bakura." He decides to tease the kids.

They fidget on the couch and say in unison, "And?"

"Well," He puts his finger to his lip, thinking. "There might be a few other people coming, but I don't think I can remember." The two children look at each other, the same mischievous glint in their eyes. They look back at their father…and launch themselves at him.

Collapsing under the weight of two new bodies, he laughs as squirming forms climb on top of him to stare into his face. "Tell us!"

That's when Yami decides to walk in. Taking in the situation, two pleading kids with a father who is sending a pleading look of his own his way, the man smiles. "Whatever they want to know, you better tell them."

Yugi laughs and looks up at the two. "Well…I think I'm starting to remember…"

"Tell us, tell us, tell us!" Kontar and Omorose jump on him, and Yugi laughs again and holds up his hands in defeat.

"Alright, alright! Ishaq, Amisi, Baraka, and Wati are coming along too."

The children cheer and run around the room together, before Kontar realizes they are running together, and stops, with Omorose not far behind him.

"When are they getting here?" Kontar ignores the girl trailing behind him, turning to look at his father.

"Any minute now." And as soon as he said that, there is a loud yell and a boy comes running in.

"Hi, Omorose!" The energetic ball of blonde hair stops in front of blushing Omorose.

"H-Hey, Wati." She bats her eyes at him, and he all but melts. Grabbing her hand, he pulls her over to the side, not bothering to pay attention when his brother walks in with his parents. "Look what I got!" He holds up a card in front of her face.

The girl gasps and she looks from the card to Wati's face. "Dark Magician Girl." She speaks the duel monster with reverence, and reaches out to touch it, before pulling back. "It's so cool, Wati! You're lucky to have it!"

Wati averts his eyes and a blush flits across her face. Puffing out his chest to try and appear tough, he shrugs. "You can have her…if you want."

"Really?" She practically screams, and everyone in the room but Wati flinches. "Are you sure?"

He shrugs, but gains a smirk and holds out the card. "Sure, here."

Omorose gently takes the card and holds to her chest. "Thank you." She leans forward and places a kiss on Wati's cheek.

Laughing at the red face of his son, Marik picks up a pouting Ishaq. "Amisi isn't here." Malik hits Marik on top of the head and runs his fingers through the his boy's hair. "Don't worry, she'll be here."

As if on cue, Ryou and Bakura walk up the stairs, each holding a child. One scrambles out of Ryou's arms and over to the boy in the middle of the room, while the other crosses her arms and stays with Bakura.

"Hello, Kontar." The boy tilts his face and smiles brightly.

Trying to seem like he didn't care, Kontar acts as if he just notices the boy. "Oh, hey, Baraka." And doesn't notice how Baraka's face falls.

"Do I have to be here?" The girl whines, keeping her eyes on her folded arms.

Bakura nods his head and grunts. "Don't think I want to be here anymore than you, Amisi, Ryou made me come."

Ryou turns and raises an eyebrow. "Oh, that's how it's gonna be?" Bakura visibly pales. Ryou turns back around and continues talking to Yugi, but not before stating, "Someone's not getting anything tonight." Everyone laughs, except for the kids.

"What did Uncle Ryou mean by that, Daddy?" Ishaq asks, speaking what all the others were thinking.

Marik shifts and looks to his husband. "Um, he meant…Malik?" Malik blinks as all the attention is switched to him. He falters. "Um, he isn't going to be getting any…ice cream?"

At the mention of the delicious substance, two voices yell out. "Ice cream! We want ice cream!"

Rubbing his ear, Bakura places his daughter on the ground. "Go ask your daddy."

"Daddy! Papa said to come ask you!"  
"Mommy! Daddy said to come ask you!"

The two friends blink as two identical pleading stares look up at them. Ryou's lips quirk and looks sideways at Malik. "I can't believe Marik convinced them to call you mom."

Malik blushes and sends a glare over to Ryou. "Shut up." Sighing and placing his hands on his hips, Malik looks down at the two. "If Uncle Ryou says it's ok, then I guess we can."

Two pleading stares turn to the pale boy. "Thanks, Malik." He mumbles under his breath. "Well…ok, but only one scoop." Amisi and Ishaq cheer and hug, then Amisi realizes she's hugging someone and pushes Ishaq away.

"I want to go to the park!" "I want a water slide!" "Petting zoo!" "I want to go on a roller coaster!" All at once, as if everyone had decided to state what they want to do, the kids start bouncing around the room screaming things.

After a few minutes of that, the adults finally calm down the kids enough for them to sit down, and they decide what to do for the rest of the day. Malik and Marik are taking Omorose and Wati to the park, Yami and Bakura are taking Amisi and Ishaq to the ice cream parlor, and Yugi and Ryou are taking Baraka and Kontar to a local fair.

"Ok, everyone know what there are doing and who they have to stick with?" Eleven heads all nod in Yugi's direction. "All right then, since it's a Friday, Malik offered for all of us to spend the night at his house, he has more than enough room. So drive back there once you're done, okay?" More nodding. "See you all later tonight!" Picking up Kontar, Yugi leads the group outside.

* * *

_At the fair_

* * *

Baraka screams and holds tightly on to the bar in front of him. Kontar laughs and throws his hands in the air. "Come on, Baraka! It's just the Ferris Wheel!" Baraka closes his eyes as Kontar looks over the edge of the stopped cart.

"I'm afraid of heights." Kontar looks over at Baraka with sympathy, not that the boy could see it with eyes glued shut.

Prying one hand off the bar, he holds it tightly, looking away when Baraka looks at the joined hands questioningly. "Don't be. I'm here, so heights won't hurt you."

Baraka laughs a little and nods his head, slowly relaxing, much to Kontar's delight.

* * *

_At the ice cream parlor_

* * *

Yami and Bakura lean up against the counter as the kids choose which flavor they want. "I want chocolate!" "Ew, Ishaq! You like chocolate?" "N-no…I was just…joking."

Bakura snorts. "I can't believe that weakling was made by Marik."

Yami just shrugs. "Yeah, well, the more time your daughter makes the boy change his mind, the more time it's going to take to get out of here." He waves a person who is waiting behind them forward.

"I want Superman!" "That's gross!" "Yeah! You're right, I don't want that…What do you want Amisi?"

Sighing, Bakura crosses his arms and looks over at his daughter. Yami bursts out laughing. Turning a glare over to the man, Bakura growls out, "What?"

"That girl has got you wrapped around her finger doesn't she?"

"No!" Bakura swallows and looks away again.

"Papa, what flavor should I get?"

"Whatever flavor you want, flower." Yami cracks up laughing again and Bakura stiffens as he realizes what had just come out of his mouth. Swiping a fist that is easily avoided, Bakura narrows his eyes at the still chuckling man. "Shut up, Pharaoh."

"Whatever you say…_papa_."

* * *

_At the park_

* * *

"Now you kids run along." Marik talks in an overly sweet voice and makes shooing motions towards the playground.

Omorose, however, has other ideas. "Why?" She asks innocently, holding on to Wati's hand, who is used to his parents behavior and is pulling the girl to the swings.

"Because your Uncle Malik and I want to have adult alone time."

The girl frowns, but shrugs, thinking it is just another weird thing about adults. Turning and running with Wati to the swings, she laughs and completely forgets about the people who are supposed to be watching her.

Marik turns Malik around and pulls him into a kiss, walking the man backwards until they were on a bench together. They then proceed to get lost in each other.

Just before they reach the swings, Omorose turns and looks back at the adults. Tugging on Wati's hand, she tilts her head to the side as she stares at them. "Wati, what are they doing?"

Wati blushes and looks at the oblivious girl next to him. "Um, Mama says it's them two having fun."

Omorose frowns. "It doesn't look fun. It looks like Uncle Marik is eating Uncle Malik."

The boy shrugs and the blush starts to fade. "They do it all the time."

"Maybe we should try it sometime. I wanna see if it's fun."

The blush comes back full force. "N-now?"

Omorose laughs and turns back to the swing set, pulling Wati along by the hand. "No, not now, silly. They said it's adult alone time. That means we have to wait until we're adults!" A small pout forms on Wati's face, but Omorose doesn't notice.

* * *

_At the fair_

* * *

"I want that one, Daddy!" Baraka points out a large stuffed version of Black Luster Soldier.

"I'm sorry, Baraka, but you'll have to win the game to get it." Ryou says sadly.

"Step right up! Test your luck against other competitors! Don't be shy! We have room for two more people!" The worker calls out to those who passed in front of his stall, the only person in the stall for three was a large man who sat in the middle. "Only five bucks per person to participate! Come on now!" He is advertising for a water gun game, where you have to shoot a stream of water in a hole to make the stuffed animals reach the top. "First to the top wins and you can pick out a prize!"

Digging out ten dollars, Yugi hands it to the two boys. "Here, why don't you go play and see if you can win."

Baraka squeals and runs forward, dragging Kontar with him. Handing the money to the man running the stall, he runs to one of the two open spots and Kontar walks to the one on the other end.

Watching as Baraka sits down next to the fairly large man, jumping with excitement, and as Kontar slips into his own seat, looking around disinterestedly, Ryou and Yugi start to talk. "So how have things been with you?" Yugi keeps one eye on the stand and the other on Ryou.

The man shrugs. "Good. The two are growing up just fine. Though I'm a little worried that Amisi will turn out just like her father."

Yugi laughs. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

While the two are talking, Baraka and Kontar get ready to start. "Everyone understand the rules? Yes? Good. On your mark. Get set. Go!" All three immediately press down on their buttons, and the stuffed animals slowly make their way up. It's obvious that the two kids are the ones in the lead, but Kontar had noticed the looks Baraka had given the Black Luster Soldier, and slowly let up, letting Baraka win.

'I can do this! I'm winning!' Baraka had noticed Kontar's bear start to slow down, though he had no idea why. All he know is that he was going to get the Black Luster Soldier. Suddenly, when the man is sure that the attendant isn't looking, Baraka is knocked out of his seat by the man next to him, who is losing poorly to the both of them.

Looking up with tears in his eyes, he notices his stuffed animal slowly start to make its way back down. Scrambling back on his seat, he starts to press on the gun again, but sees he is way behind, too far behind to even catch up with the man who knocked him off his seat. 'There is no way I'll win now…'

Kontar growls as he sees the foul play happen out of the corner of his eye. He almost leaps down to help, but sees the boy climb back up in his seat. He can hear the heavy breathing from around the man and knows Baraka is close to crying. Frowning and now putting all his effort into winning, Kontar focuses on getting that stuffed animal. Dodging the elbow he expected would be coming from the man next to him, Kontar jumps in his seat when he hears bells go off. Looking up, he sees his bear at the top, while the other two make their way down.

Baraka slips off his chair and wipes his running nose on his sleeve. "Good job for winning, Kontar." He holds out his hand and Kontar takes it, smiling.

"Baraka! Are you okay? I saw what happened. I'm going to kill that man!" Looking up as if he is going to do just that, but seeing the sore loser already gone, Ryou wraps his arms around his son.

The boy lets his mother fuss. "I'm okay, Daddy. Just sad I didn't win."

"I'd like that one, please." Baraka looks up and his eyes widen as the worker pulls down the exact prize that he had wanted. Turning into his father's chest, he feels tears prick in his eyes.

"Here." The exact voice that had asked for the stuffed animal speaks again, this time closer. Looking up, Baraka stares straight into the face of Black Luster Soldier. "Now that I think about it, I don't really want this one that much and they won't let me trade." Baraka looks around the toy to see a blushing Kontar looking off to the side. Taking the duel monster tenderly and holding it to his chest, Baraka smiles at the boy in front of him.

"Thank you."

"Aw, it was nothing." Kontar reaches a hand back to rub his head. "I saw what that man did to you and-"

Baraka had leaned forward to kiss Kontar on the cheek, but in his shock at the movement, Kontar had turned, and now the two are kissing on the lips. The one who had initially started it blinks, before jerking up and turning his face into his new stuffed animal to hide his blush. The other holds up a hand to his mouth, a light blush of his own still on his cheeks.

Both of them smiling at the sweet scene, Yugi and Ryou pick up their children. "Ready to go to Malik's?" The two nod and the adults start to walk to their car. Neither notice that the two they are carrying had reached across the small gap between them to hold hands.

* * *

_At the park_

* * *

Wati looks over at the still laughing Omorose, both of them swinging back and forth. "I bet I can get higher than you, Wati!" Smirking, Wati puts more energy into kicking and keeps his eyes forward so he isn't distracted. "I don't think so!"

Suddenly he hears a scream and looks down to see Omorose on the ground, surrounded by a group of three kids their age. Jumping off the swing while it's still going, he lands on his feet and starts to walk over to the group.

"So you thought you could swing in Butch's swing, huh?" One of the boys gets up close to her face. "Well, think again."

The guy picks the now sobbing girl up by the arms and shoves her backwards, straight into the arms of another. "My dad showed me how to hurt a girl without _really _hurting her, wanna see?" the one who catches her whispers in her ear. She screams as she feels a hand reach into the pocket of her pants. Kicking and punching, she breaks free and tries to run, but goes straight into the third guy.

"Yo, Drew, whatcha get from her pocket?" The guy tightens the grip around her arms and she whimpers. She is turned around and roughly pulled against a broad chest.

"It wasn't really what I was aiming to do but…it's just a stupid Duel Monsters card, Butch." Omorose gasps and struggles again. "Give me that back!"

"Looks like we got a wild one." The other two laugh as the one called Butch speaks up.

"I think I heard her say give it back." Omorose looks over in the direction of the voice and smiles brightly at Wati, though he didn't look happy at all.

"She wants it back?" Drew holds it up in the air. "Fine. But she'll have to kiss me first to get it."

Suddenly, Drew is on the ground holding his face and Wati is inside the circle of bullies. Walking over to the now sobbing boy he just punched out, he picks up the card from the unresisting hand. "Thank you." He slowly walks back over to Omorose, hands in his pockets. "Here you go, Omorose." Taking one hand out of his pockets, he offers her the card.

The girl smiles sadly and gestures to her arms, where thick hands were still wrapped around them. "I'd love to take it, really…"

"Quiet!" Omorose screams as the boy holding her shakes her. Wati slips the card back into his pocket and follows the hands to the arms that lead to a face.

"Well aren't you a not-so-nice sight to see."

Butch smirks and looks Wati up and down. Looking at the other guy in the group, he laughs. "Kid thinks he's tough 'cause he knocked down Drew."

Wati launches himself forward, but comes to a screeching halt as he sees Omorose wide eyes suddenly in front of his fist. Omorose breathing quickens and Wati drops the arm. "Uh uh uh, we can't have you hurting this pretty face of mine, so I think I'll just take this girl as a bodyguard." Butch smiles slowly and throws Omorose over a broad shoulder. "Jake, take care him."

Omorose screams and Wati tries to follow her, but is stopped by a body in front of him. Looking at the boy who couldn't be more than four, he smirks. This would be too easy.

But it isn't, and by the time Wati had finally knocked the guy out, Butch and Omorose are nowhere to be seen. "Omorose! Omorose?" He calls out, and finally hears an answer by the monkey bars.

Looking up, he sees a squirming Omorose with a hand over her mouth, sitting on the lap of Butch, who is balanced on the top of the bars. Seeing he is found, Butch releases Omorose's mouth. She starts to sob and squirm even harder. "I want Father! I want Dad! I want to go home!"

Wati narrows his eyes and starts to climb up on the ladder, happy to see it went almost all the way to the top, so he wouldn't have to jump far. "It's okay, Omorose. I'm gonna help you."

She sniffles and nods her head, but doesn't stop kicking or struggling. "Okay."

Once he reaches the top, he glares at the boy holding Omorose. "Let her go." He crawls forward, not wanting to lose his balance.

Butch looks around and sees no way out. Suddenly, he smirks. "Fine, have it your way."

He throws Omorose forward, who flies through the air to Wati. Their bodies collide and it sends them over the edge.

Wati grunts as his back lands hard on the woodchips, and his eyes start to well up. The body on top of him scrambles and helps him up. "Wati! Are you okay?"

The boy nods and blinks away the tears, trying to act tough. "Yeah, just a little fall."

Omorose lifts up his shirt and coos, ignoring the blush on Wati's face. "It's gonna be a big bruise. You should have Uncle Malik look at it."

Then he feels a pair of lips on his back, before his shirt is pulled back down. "There, all better." She starts to pull towards the bench where Malik and Marik are still occupied, before she notices something. "Wati, why are you blushing?"

Shaking his head to get rid of stray thoughts, he reaches in his pocket and holds out the Dark Magician Girl. "Here."

Omorose squeals and takes it, before turning and skipping to Malik and Marik. "Thank you, Wati!"

Malik and Marik just wrap up a kiss to see Omorose and Wati walking towards them, "You guys tired? Wanna head back?"

Wati nods his head. "Yeah."

Marik attempts to pick up Omorose, but she scrambles around and jumps on his back. Grunting, but reluctantly walking forward, he looks back at Malik, who is fussing over Wati.

"What did you do this time?" Malik asks after noticing the wince when he picks Wati up.

"Wati saved me!" A raised eyebrow from both grown men.

"Oh did he now?" Ignoring the blush on his son's face, Malik smiles. "I guess I'll have to check his battle scars when we get home, hm?"

* * *

_At the ice cream parlor_

* * *

Amisi and Ishaq had each decided on a flavor, whether they wanted a cone or a bowl, and if they wanted sprinkles or not. Yami and Bakura sit on the inside, each staring out the window, bored, while Ishaq and Amisi swing their feet and eat their ice cream. They both had gotten orange sherbet in a bowl, but Ishaq had gotten sprinkles.

Their feet brush against each other's sometimes, and Ishaq has a constant blush on his face. Noticing this, Amisi speaks up, "What's the matter with you? Your face is all red."

The blush deepens and Ishaq turns his face down. "N-nothing."

Amisi frowns and narrows her eyes at the boy in front of her, wondering why she is caring at all why his face is red. "Something." But Ishaq doesn't speak again, focusing instead on the ice cream. Looking down at her own ice cream, her frown deepens. Sniffing lightly she pushes it away and crosses her arms.

Noting that her father isn't going to do anything about it, Ishaq looks up and tilts his head to the side questioningly. "Aren't you gonna eat that?"

Amisi shakes her head and feels a pout slip out, but quickly pulls it back in. "I decided I wanted sprinkles instead, but I can't get them."

Ishaq notices the pout before it disappears, and thinks it's really cute. "We could switch."

Amisi leans forward and her eyes widen. "You would do that?"

"Sure. I didn't really want sprinkles anyway." The small lie wouldn't hurt anyone, and Ishaq smiles brightly at finally being able to really talk with Amisi.

Amisi thinks about it then nods her head. "Okay." They slide their own bowls over to trade, grinning at each other. There is a moment's pause when each tastes their new ice cream, before Amisi reluctantly speaks up again. "Thanks." Ishaq nods his head and keeps his head down to hide the new blush.

"He-Hello." A small voice speaks up, and Ishaq looks up to see a girl about their age standing holding a bowl of her own ice cream. "My name is Penelope."

Ishaq smiles brightly while Amisi just glares. "Hello, I'm Ishaq."

"Oh, um, hi. I think-I think you're-you're very pretty, Ishaq." Ishaq blushes harder and stares at the girl playing with the chocolate ice cream in her bowl.

"Uh, thank you…Penelope." The girl smiles brightly and gestures over to a table with two other giggling girls. "Do you want to come eat some of our ice cream with me and my friends?"

Ishaq glances at Amisi, and seeing her look away disinterestedly, sighs and starts to slide out of the booth, sure that Yami and Bakura wouldn't mind.

But Amisi beats him to it. Jumping out of her seat, she takes a step forward, forcing Penelope to take a step back. "First of all, why in the world would Ishaq want to eat ice cream with _you_?" She looks the scared girl up and down. "Second, he doesn't like chocolate ice cream." Ishaq watches with wide eyes as Penelope takes another step back. "And third, he isn't pretty, he's handsome."

Penelope scrambles back to her seat and Amisi slides back into hers with a huff. Smiling brightly, Ishaq looks at the still steaming Amisi. "You think I'm handsome?"

The girl falters for a minute before regaining her composure. "No-I mean sure...to some people. But-pretty is what they call girls not boys. Boys are handsome."

Ishaq's smile never falters and he nods his head. "Well, I think you're very pretty."

Amisi freezes and a blush works its way over her face before she shifts, placing an elbow on the table then resting her chin on her hand, looking to the side. "Yeah…whatever."

Bakura jerks out of his daydream and looks over at the two kids. "You guys done?" Two nods. "Then let's go."

Yami follows Ishaq and scoops him up, placing him on a hip. Amisi squeals as Bakura swings her around for a moment before settling her on his hip just like Yami. Ignoring the raised eyebrow, Bakura walks out into the car.

* * *

_At Malik's house_

* * *

Malik collapses on the couch next to Yugi and Ryou and lets out a sigh. "I hope those kids had fun, because it took forever to get them to bed." The other two adults on the couch nod their heads.

Slowly standing up again and working the kinks out of his shoulders, he walks out of the room. "Come on guys, I betcha our yamis are waiting for us."

Releasing sighs of their own, Ryou and Yugi stand up and walk down the hall to the guest bedrooms, where they immediately fall asleep in their yami's arms.

Malik stops on his way to his room as he notices a familiar figure at the door to the nursery. Wrapping his arms around the man, he takes in the scene. "Adorable, aren't they?"

Marik grunts and picks Malik up bridal style. Feeling hands drift to play 'down there', Malik squirms and bats away the hands. "Oh no, you don't, we have guests, and we've already corrupted our own kids enough."

Marik groans but relents, and carries Malik off into their room to fall asleep.

Inside the nursery, six forms are in separate groups of two.

One group has two boys snuggling up to a Black Luster Soldier stuffed animal. One with star-shaped black hair tipped in crimson that had blonde streaks framing his face and streaking up his hair, the other with spiked white hair that flew in all directions.

Another contains a girl and boy. The girl, who had black hair ending in blonde that pools around her shoulders, is holding a Dark Magician Girl card to her chest and was turned into the boy. The boy had an arm wrapped over the girl and his platinum blonde hair fell straight down, stopping just above his own shoulders.

The last group was a little different. The two were facing away from each other, the boy with his arms wrapped around himself, the girl with her arms crossed. But, in middle of the night, while they were both sleeping, they turn to each other for warmth and wrap their arms around the other. The boy with straight platinum blonde hair smiles sweetly in his sleep, while the girl with soft white hair just tightens her grip on the boy.

* * *

**SW: Holy crap…**

**Yugi: 0.0**

**SW: That is the longest chapter I have ever written! Ever!**

**Yami: I think it turned out pretty good.**

**SW: Me too! I want to thank all of you for stickin' around 'til the end of this story, I love you all!**

**Bakura: *crosses arms and grumbles* Thanks to all the reviews**

**Marik: *reluctantly follows script* Thanks to all the follows**

**Malik: Thanks to all the favorites!**

**Yugi: Thank you for all the support!**

**Yami: Thank you for reading the story!**

**Ryou: Thank you for not killing SoWhatever when she updated late in the day!**

**SW: THANK YOU! This is the end of the story, but I'm not done writing! I'm going to be taking a little break (like a week) to get a head start on my next story, and I'm changing my update days to fit my schedule, but I hope you'll read it!**

**I can't believe I'm asking this for the last time…**

**Review!**


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